Xander the Magus
by Borg39
Summary: Xander finds out a little more about his family and gains the power he always wanted on halloween
1. The setup

Disclaimer: If you recognize it Its not mine

Notes: At first this will be a Buffy/Stargate/D&D fan fiction. I am using the 3.5 rules for D&D since the only other rules I know are AD&D and they would not blend well with the with a few spell errors.

Chapter One- The setup

The being mortals called Janus looked down at the blue green earth and smiled. The mage Ethan Rayne was planning to call upon him to turn the people who lived on the hellmouth into whatever costume they decided to dress up as on Halloween, turning the town into a feeding ground for chaos. Ethan, however, didn't know that in this town lived Janus's son. Tony Harris was the last high priest of Janus that existed on earth and Alexander Harris was conceived while Tony was empowered by his god. Afterwards, true to the nature of chaos magic. Tony lost all connection to Janus and took it quite hard, turning to booze to try and forget the glorious feeling that being in contact with his lord.

Janus, however, did not turn away form his follower. Granting him protection form the dangers of the hellmouth and saving his life from all the demons that were attracted to the hellmouth. Tony had raised , if that was the word, Janus's son on the hellmouth as the last command that his god had given him.

'My son had fallen in with the slayer, helping her kill demons by the dozen.' Janus thought to himself 'He desires power to aid in her fight so she would not keep pushing him to the side. This spell would be the perfect chance to grant him that power without the PTB trying to stop him. I will not act like one of the Asses That Be, however, I shall give him a chance to give the powers up, as well as let him decide what he would like to do with the power. Now I need to have a chat with Mr. Rayne.'.

With that thought Janus vanished with a bright green flash of light.

Ethan's Costume Shop-Three weeks before Halloween

Ethan just finished cursing the last of the costumes in his shop. Thinking about the chaos he would be responsible for in a scant three weeks, he smiled. He would be in great favor with all the chaos gods by the time the spell ended. He heard the bell on the front door ring and frowned, he had locked the door before coming back here. He left the back room and saw a man dressed as Q form star trek. Thinking that a nut had happened to enter, Ethan quickly stepped forward.

"I'm sorry sir, I wont be open until next week if you come back here then I will be happy to..."

Ethan was interrupted by Q's hand that shot out faster then the eye could see and grabbed Ethan by the neck, lifting him a foot off the ground.

"Listen to me, little mage. I am one of your chaos gods. The one whose power your going to call on to cast your spell on Halloween. I am happy with your plans but need to make some changes to your spell." Janus let Ethan fall to the ground.

Recovering quickly, Ethan got to his knees and asked "My lord, what changes did you wish me to make to my spell?"

Janus turned his back to Ethan. After a moment he turned back and changed his form to that of Xander. 'Hmmm, thats one of Ripper's little kids. The ones who hang around with the Slayer' Ethan thought

"Heres the change I would like to make to your spell. When the boy whose image I am wearing comes to buy a costume you will not allow him to buy any other costume other than these" With that Janus gestured and a staff, bracer and a gray wizard's cloak appeared on the counter. "This boy is my true son and will be able to keep the power he gains from the spell."

Ethan stared at Janus in shock." What, what will your son turn into, if I may ask my lord?" he said with a trembling voice.

Janus's smile got even wider, which was a strange sight since his smile now reached from his left ear to his right. "My son will turn into one of five different mages depending on who he really is on the inside. Either he will become a evil necromancer form the realm of Ravenloft, a lawful evil mage form the forgotten realms, a neutral wizard from Sigil, or a chaotic good wizard from the realm of Eberron. For your silence and obedience I will grant you one boon to be given to you upon your request as well as complete protection until you leave Sunnydale, as long as you leave within two days of Halloween. Fail to cast the spell or deviate from the instructions I have given to you and I will cast the spell using your own life force to power it." With a bright green flash Janus vanished from the shop leaving Ethan alone. Grinning at the thought at being the one to cause so much chaos he got to his feet and went to finish setting up the shop.

Two weeks later- Ethan's Shop

Buffy, Willow and Xander entered Ethan's shop and split up, Buffy and Willow heading toward the back of the store while Xander headed toward the Military section.

'I'll just look around and see if I can find anything for ten bucks or less. Can't believe mom threw out my fatigues. You would think that she saw a ghost.' Xander thought.

"Looking for something in particular young man?" Ethan asked, gliding up to Xander.

"Yea, I was going to go as a solider but my mom threw out my fatigues," Xander took a quick look at the price tags of the military uniforms "but I don't have enough money for any of these. I am sorry I wasted your time." Turning Xander made to leave the store.

"Wait young man," Ethan grabbed Xander's forearm "Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday. The reason I opened this store was to make sure everyone in this town was able to get just the right costume for Halloween," snapping his fingers he continued" How would you like to be a Wizard?"

"Well that sounds pretty cool, but I could never afford it." Xander replied.

"It just so happens that one of my costumes was shipped incomplete. I would normally have to pay to have it shipped back but I would be willing to sell it to you for, say, ten dollars. Sound good?" Ethan asked.

Xander looked like Christmas had come early. Shaking Ethan's hand, Ethan left to get the costume form the back of the store. After a few moments he returned carrying the staff, bracer and cloak. The staff was a little over six feet in length and was a pale white color with a white gem embedded in the top of the staff. The bracer was made of a metal made of what appeared to be sliver but, as Xander ran his hand over it, was harder than steel. Embedded in the center of the bracer was a white gem surrounded by symbols that were made of a darker gray metal. As he stared at the bracer the darker symbols seemed to glow slightly but, upon second glance, were not really shiny.

"Are you sure you only want ten dollars for these? They look really expensive." Xander asked as he took the items.

"Well, as I said the costume is incomplete. It would cost me far more to send it back then to sell it at a discount to you. Now follow me and ill ring you up" Ethan turned and quickly rang up Xander.

Paying Xander turned and set the staff by the door." I want this to be a surprise for my friends. Will you watch the staff if I leave it here?"

Ethan nodded and Xander walked back towards the military section of the store where Willow was trying to decide between a ghost costume and a Air force captain's uniform. Buffy was holding a dress bag with her noble woman's costume in it. Seeing Xander walking over Willow's face broke out in a smile.

"What did ya get?" Willow asked pointing at the bag.

"Its a surprise. But let me just say that I am still the ten dollar costume king!" Xander replied "What are you going to get? Please don't tell me your going as a ghost again this year."

"Well I was thinking about going as a Air Force captain to match you but now I guess I am going as Casper." Willow said

"Nah, my uncle Rory was showing me a article in one of his magazines about a Air Force captain Samantha Carter. She has a PHD and if we could find a blond wig you could go as her. You would be perfect!" Xander rushed over and took the ghost costume form her hands "Come on Buff, help me out here"

"Yeah Willow! They have a kill section of wigs over here. We could get ya a cute blond one that will make you look exactly like Sam Carter." Buffy took Willow's hand and dragged her over to the wigs while Xander quickly picked out a plastic gun for Willow. Buffy and Xander quickly pressed Willow into buying the Air Force uniform, wig and gun and then they left.

October 30 1997- Ethan's Shop

Ethan keeled before an alter, Janus's bust sitting upon it, praying. Elsewhere Janus was trying to block out or ignore the persistent praying of Ethan. Finally realizing that he would not give up Janus appeared before Ethan once again as Q.

"You have been bugging me for over an hour asking me to bless you with my presence, although I have had more people curse me for it, what is it that you wanted?" Janus asked him.

"Oh course my lord but first, if I may, why do you choose to appear before me in the form of Q?" Ethan asked

"Well according to Star Trek Q is the ultimate trickster and is always causing trouble to the Federation. Since I am the god of chaos and trouble why should I not appear as him? Plus his creation is parity my doing so of course I would appear as him."

"My lord, I only wished to let you know that your son purchased the items you left for him. The Slayer bought an noble womans dress and their other friend bought a air force costume to go as one Captain Sam Carter." Ethan said

"Yes, very good. Samantha Carter? Where have I heard that name before?" Janus disappeared with a green flash.

Several Hours Later-Elsewhere

Janus, still in Q's form, was floating in complete darkness trying to remember where he had heard the name Sam Carter when he was blinded by a flash of white light. When it cleared it revealed a middle aged woman in flowing white robes. Dusting herself off she floated over to Janus.

"Ah if it isn't my good friend Morgan Le Fay! What can I do for the ascended Alterans today?" Janus asked.

Ganos Lal, better known as Moran Le Fay, looked cross at Janus. "When we helped you out in the 18 hundreds we made a deal. We would help you if you would leave people we state alone from your power. You are about to break our agreement. Captain Samantha Carter of the SGC is on our list and you are about to reveal to young Willow the existence of the Stargate program as well as all that Carter knows."

Janus snapped his fingers." I knew that I knew that name form somewhere. Let me see here, I am willing to make you a deal. How about I adjust the spell so that Willow will only remember Carter's knowledge and skills not related to the Stargate program? She will otherwise only remember Carter's combat training as well as her skills related to her PHD. Do we have a agreement?"

Morgan looked at Janus strangely. "What chaos are you trying to cause now? Every move you make is only to feed your need for the energy chaos cause."

Janus wagged his finger at Morgan. "Ah ah ah, you have nothing to worry about. The only chaos I am trying to cause this time is to the power structure of the Asses that be. You are aware that they try to take as much free will out of their champions as is possible. My son is friends with both the Slayer and Willow. By giving Willow the knowledge and training of Captain Carter I will turn their plans on a needle's tip and give more of a choice to the Slayer."

Morgan looked at Janus carefully. Judging that he was telling her the truth she nodded. "Alright , as long as these are your true intentions then we will agree. Willow dose not remember anything at all about the Stargate program or the SGC." Morgan vanished with a bright white light.

Sighing Janus set to work once again modifying the spell to make an exception once again. 'I swear, doing the right thing is more trouble then it is worth.' he thought to himself

6:30 pm October 31st - Summer's House

Buffy opened the front door at Xander's knock to reveal him standing there in the gray wizard's cloak holding his staff and wearing the bracer. Xander gave her a bow. "My lady, Xander Harris Master Magus, at your service."

"Thank you me lord. Just wait till you see Willow though." Buffy replied with a small curtsy.

The two were interrupted by Willow coming down the stairs. She was dressed smartly as Captain Carter with a plastic assault gun in hand. The three of them moved to Buffy's couch and sat down.

"Um, guys, I have a small change to tonight's plans. Do you guys know Johnathan?" seeing her friends nods she continued "His parents asked mine to let him join us tonight. They are scared that he is falling into a depression so they asked my parents to ask me to try and help him. I hope you guys aren't mad?"

"Nah John, Jessie and I used to hang out a lot before Jessie died. I would love to hang out with him again." Xander answered

Before Buffy could answer there was a knock at the door. When she answer it Johnathan was standing at the door dressed as Frodo." Hi guys. You got stuck escorting the kids tonight too?" he asked

"Ya, the troll got us all roped into it. Glad to see you again Frodo." Xander answered

"If we don't want to be late then we will have to get going now." Buffy interrupted

Later that night-Ethan's shop

Ethan chanted the last word of the spell and a green wave flashed through the shop heading outward to encompass the entire town. With a smile on his face Ethan looked at the bust of Janus, which now had glowing green eyes and said "Show time"

Outside Same time

Willow had just taken the children to what was going to be the last stop of the night when the green wave hit them. Willow's head dropped and she felt a strange power flush over her. Several states away, underneath NORAD, Captain Samantha Carter fell to the floor in a comatose sleep and was quickly carried to the infirmary.

Down the street Xander also fell to the ground but was surrounded by a green aura of power. The aura only lasted a second before merging with his body.

Alexander Harrison, master mage form Morgrave University, awoke in a strange land. Sitting up he looked around. ' Xantos, do you know where we are?' Alex thought

Xander's staff had changed form. No longer was it a pale white, it now was a dragon shaped staff with the ruby making up the eyes and a claw at the end of the tail. The bracer's gem also had changed into a ruby.

'No my friend,' the staff pulsed red ' I have no idea where we are but you also carry within you another presence.'


	2. Halloween

Added in a little Marvel in this chapter! Still don't own anything!

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by three mini demons charging him. Quickly getting back to his feet, he shouted a command word and tilted his staff toward the mini demons. A red glow surrounded both his staff and the mini demons, who few across the street into a wall. Alex raised his hand, muttering several words in a strange language. A ball of fire about the size of a pea appeared in his hand. Right when he was about to throw it a voice, not Xantos's, yelled at him in his mind not to kill them. Alex, startled, toss the pea into the air where it exploded into a large fireball.

Alex placed his hand on the ruby on his bracer and muttered a word. A bag, vial, and a bat wing appeared in his other hand. Working quickly he spread a ring of sliver, form the bag, around both him and the mini demons. He quickly repeated the process with the water in the vial and with the bat wing. When he was finished a clear dome appeared surrounding him and he sat cross legged in the center. He cleared his mind and prepared to meet the other presence in his mind.

Alex's Mind Scape

Xander found himself sitting at a table inside a rather large library. Sitting across from him was a red dragonic humanoid. He was about nine feet tall, with two horns that started at the edge of his eyes and reached around his head until they met at the middle of his neck. His mouth reached four inches in front of his face and was filled with large teeth. His eyes were reptilian and his hands had four claws on the fingers with a fifth claw making up the thumb. The claws reached about four inches past the end of the fingers while the thumb seemed to be a flexible claw that reached an inch farther then the others.

Xander was staring at the stranger when he spoke in a deep guttural voice. "You know, if you want a painting I am pretty sure I could get Alex to create one for ya"

Xander was saved from having to respond when the door opened and a elder gentleman with long white hair, a beard that reached his knees and looked kinda like what Xander would if he reached 125 without a shave. The gentleman took a seat and sent a scorching look at the dragon.

"Introductions first. My name is Alexander Harrison of Morgrave University. Across from you is the great wyrm Xantos. Your turn." Alex sat back.

"Well, my name is Xander Harris. I am from earth, go to high school and dressed as you for Halloween." Xander answered.

"Yes, both Xantos and I have come to the conclusion that I have been pulled from my home dimension. After I was pulled we seemed to be forced into your mind. Nor does the effect seem to be limited to just you as everyone in your city seems to have been affected. Of course a spell must have been responsible for this as no natural force I know of could have forced us into your body. Several of the demons out there seems to have been children so killing is out but I do have some non lethal spells that will help in pacifying them. Does this seem to sum up the problems out there?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, except we have my other three friends out there I would like to save. Ones name is Willow, the others Buffy and then theres Johnathan. They dressed as a Air force captain, a noblewoman, and a halfling. Buffy is a chosen warrior. God, Giles does this part so much better than..."

Xander was interrupted by a life sized Giles appearing in midair over the table. He started to speak. "Into every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will fight against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer." with that Giles disappeared.

Alex and Xantos laughed at the look on Xander's face. "This is your mind, Xander. Anything you can think of will come into existence. Now if this slayer kills vampires," at this Xantos stood up and pounded his fist on the table "Then I will help her. Alex knows how I feel about them since one of them killed my mate and spawn. Lets go!"

Alex and Xantos stood up. "Before we go however, I want you to use your magic to enhance Xander so he can give me information about his home that we might need." Alex told Xantos.

Nodding Xantos lead Alex out of the library leaving Xander sitting alone at the table.

Outside

Alex opened his eyes just in time to be tackled by a mini demon. Rolling Alex spared a quick glance at the dome to ensure that it was, in fact, still intact. Shouting a word and thrusting his hand outward a stream of white sparkling dust flew into the demon. When the stream hit the mini demon it fell quickly asleep. Looking around he noticed that the dome was holding several full sized, real demons back. Raising his staff he caused several rays of red energy shoot from the staff's eyes and set the demons ablaze. They ran, but it did no good as no gust of wind seemed to affect the flames and soon they fell blazing to the ground.

'I don't get it. The Circle of protection vs. evil spell is still working and it held those demons at bay until I could deal with them. Why did it let the little ones in?' Alex asked his two hitchhikers.

'The children are still just innocent underneath the changes the spell caused them to undergo. The spell that changed them must not have been evil in nature You should have cast a protection vs. magic spell to completely make sure.' Xantos answered him.

'This is nice and all, but can we go find my friends, please?' Xander asked

Nodding, Alex spoke several words, in what Xantos told Xander was dragonic, and made several gestures. The world in Alex's sight changed. Everything seemed to have a reddish hue floating around it as well as several other shades. 'Detect magic, it allows him to see the magical auras that people and things give off.' Xantos answered Xander's unasked question.' The red haze seems to be an environment effect.'

Alex spotted what appeared to be a black hole in the magical auras. Thinking it must be a demon he started off in that direction when he heard the bark of a automatic weapon. Quickly giving in to Xander's inner yells that that must be Willow he headed off in that direction. Rounding a tree he was quickly ran into by Johnathan, who knocked him down.

"Xander! Listen to me! Your not a mage! Something is going on here, everyone seems to have somehow changed into their costumes!" Johnathan, upon seeing Xander, would have given Willow babble a run for its money.

"Relax young one, My name is Alexander Harrison of Morgrave University. I am aware of what has happened and have used my magic to let me hear his thoughts. Now, may I surmise that you have remained unaffected by the spell?"

"Well, lets see. I am not running from every shadow, or trying to destroy the one ring. I still remember everyone and everything that I love and care about. So, nope. Only short, plain regular me here." John said

Looking at him closely, Alex noticed that John had the deep blue aura of an untrained wizard. Instead of telling him about this he made a note to Xander to tell him later. "I have known quite a few warriors that were quite shorter then you, my young friend. Even the mighty Valenar Elves hesitate to attack the plains of the halflings."

They were interrupted by another round of automatic fire. Turning they both ran towards it. Rounding the corner Alex spotted Captain Carter taking cover behind a car and loading round after round into a Vampire. The vampire was just shrugging off the attack until Alex let loose with a small orb of fire. The vamp ran, the fire spreading faster then he could put it out until he dusted. Holding his staff above his head as Xander instructed, Alex approached Carter.

"Captain Carter, we are not hostile. May we approach?" Getting the correct nod from her, they moved closer and knelled. "We seem to have a problem here. You see neither one of us are who we think we are. Something has happened to us to trap us in the bodies of these young ones. Here," he reached up and broke off the mirror of the car "look, you are not the one you believe you are."

Sam was about to order these lunatics off on their way when she caught her reflection in the mirror. He was right! The hair came close but the face was way too young to be Sam Carter. Looking back to the young gentleman who was trying to tell her what was going on she noticed that he too was speaking way too old to be as young as he was.

"You see, my mental training has enabled me to breach the walls surrounding our hosts and get into contact with him. You, him, this young gentleman and a young woman named Buffy are friends. We need to try and find her as soon as possible. Now if you would follow me we can start the search for her. After we find her we can go to her home and hole up until this ends. Just remember though, these small demons are not really demons just kids. We can't kill them Sound good?" Alex asked

Carter nodded and the three of them headed out. Alex headed toward the blackness in the magical aura that he had sensed. Rounding the corner of a house they were surprised by two real demons. They were attacked, one of them knocking Alex down while the other knocked John down. Cater let loose a hail of bullets into both demons' chest. Laughing they turned toward her and was about to attack when a red glow engulfed them. Rising up a foot in the air they were engulfed by flames. When there was nothing left of them but char, Alex let them fall, a reddish glow in the staff's eyes fading. Unnoticed behind them, a dark shadow lurched forth and sliced Alex's arm. Before he could respond the dark shadow vanished. Cutting a strip form his robes he bound the cut and turned to Carter.

"Lets go. Buffy is going to need help. You see, out of all of us she is the most helpless." Alex continued along John and Carter following behind him.

Meanwhile, unseen by any of their group, Spike was quietly following and listening. After hearing that he smiled and left to gather some minions to take the slayer while she was helpless.

"Are you sure that she is in this direction?" Carter spoke for the first time.

"Well, there is a deep darkness ahead of us that I am sure is some evil. Maybe she was unaffected by the spell as well and is fighting this darkness." Alex answered.

'That was not the question that she wanted to ask.' Xantos noted from the way she looked

'She probably wants to ask you how you did the mojo back there.' Xander told him

Alex sighed. "Alright, how about you ask the question that you really wanted to ask."

Sam looked at him funny. "How, never mind, how did you do that back there?"

Alex listened to Xander and his massive collection of Babylon five knowledge to answer. "Alright heres what I know. When the man who gave me the staff explained it to me he told me that it takes the electrical fields the body produces and channels it into one of several effects. And no, I don't know how it dose this only that it would release all the energy it has absorbed all at once if tampered with."

Sam nodded and they reached the spot where the black hole in the aura was at. The detect magic spell faded as Alex looked around the tree and spotted Buffy. She was laying on the ground, asleep. Alex quickly checked her out and found her safe.

'What happened to her?' Xander asked

"It appears," Alex said out loud "That she fainted. She is merely a sleep." Tilting his staff Buffy floated up and behind Alex. "Lets head to Buffy's house"

Setting off across backyards they quickly reached Buffy's back door. Opening the door Alex laid Buffy gently down on the couch and then turned to lay several spells on the doors, making it so that they can only be opened from the inside. Hearing Buffy stir he turned an knelled next to the couch.

"My lord, where are we?" Buffy asked upon seeing Alex

"We are in a safe haven little one," Alex answered placing a hand on her forehead "We shall remain here until we can discover how the demons are invading and send them back. "

"But how, if I may know my lord, will you send them back to the hell they came from? Are you a member of the church?" Buffy looked worried

"No," Alex shook his head "I am merely a lowly mage. I can close whatever portal is allowing these demons to enter our realm."

"NO! Wizardry is a affront to our lord! Get away!" Buffy got up and ran toward the kitchen.

Unnoticed by everyone else Angel had approached the Summer's house while all this was going on. He reached for the door only to have it shock him. He frowned, he had been invited in already why was it shocking him? Shaking his head he opened the window and crawled into the house. Standing up he brushed off his clothes and made sure his hair was ok.

Alex heard someone in the kitchen. 'Hmmmm, that should not be possible the wards on the door should have prevented anyone from entering and the wards that everyone had on the....DAMN! This was not Sharn! He should have warded the windows. Casting a True sight spell he followed Buffy. Upon entering the kitchen he spotted Buffy and Angel. With his enhanced sight showing everything as it truly was Alex was able to see the demonic form of Angel. Unfortunately for Angel his demon happened to look exactly like the demon that killed Xantos's family. Alex and Xantos both growled in their mind and red glow enveloped Xander turning his hands into claws. His eyes reshaped into a more reptilian form resembling a dragon's eyes.

Alex charged forward, slamming his claws into Angel's chest slamming him up against the wall. His claws just missing Angel's heart caused Angel to revert into his game face with a grimace. Buffy, seeing two demons in front of her backed away toward the open window.

Alex leaned in toward Angel's face and for the first time in a century Angel's demon felt fear. "Tell me why I should not rip you apart limb form limb and toss your ashes into the sea?" Alex asked him.

'No! If you kill him I will have to put up with a angry slayer who wants my head! Please stop!' Xander was mentally yelling at his two guests.

Meanwhile in the front room...

Carter and John was watching the street though the front window when they heard a yell coming from outside. Carter pulled the door opened and ran outside with a burst of fire from her P-90. She scared off the dog faced demon that was assaulting a woman in a cat costume and pulled her inside the house. Once Johnathan saw Cordelia he started to give her the speech.

"Ok, your name is Cordelia, your not a cat and you go to our high school." He told her

"Thats nice Johnathan, and when did you go insane?" Cordy asked

They were interrupted by Buffy's scream from the kitchen. They rushed into the kitchen in time to see Buffy pulled outside by two green and hairy arms. Alex realeased Angel and rushed out the door to help. Angel, after tying off his wound, hurried after him with the rest of the gang following after. Once outside they saw Buffy smash her high heeled shoe into the Troll's foot and run off toward the warehouse district. Alex's body returned to normal and he turned toward the gang.

"Alright, Captain Carter, Cordy, and I go after her. You," He shoved his fore finger into Angel's chest "will escort John to Mr. Giles where he will tell him whats going on. John, Xander said he will tell you everything once this is over. And if anything happens to him vampire, you will only wish I went though with my earlier threat." Alex told them.

Nodding Johnathan took off with Angel following after him a moment later after a glare from Alex. "Cordy, am I correct that whatever has happened to the rest of us has had no effect on you as well?" Alex asked as they ran after Buffy.

"Yeah, I'm not purring or trying to slice you up am I?" she responded. Alex only rolled his eyes skyward in response.

Warehouse District

Buffy ran and turned down a alley. Pursing her was Larry dressed as a pirate. Buffy had tripped over a loose board almost allowing Larry to catch her. Getting quickly to her feet she was able to keep him at bay for a minute more before he caught her. Shoving Buffy up against the wall Larry's hand slipped downward when he was thrown backward by Spike in full hunt face.

Spike caressed her face. "You know, slayer, theres only one thing thats going to taste better than your blood and thats your fear."

Spike spotted the scoobies coming down the alley and broke open the warehouse's door. Telling his vamp buddies to stand guard Spike and several others entered the warehouse.

Meanwhile at the school library

Johnathan burst thought the double doors of the library alone, Angel having left him at the front doors to go heal. Looking around he spotted Giles in his office. Johnathan rushed over to the counter and banged on the bell.

"I say Mr. Levinson, is all that necessary? Are you trying to knock the doors off the hinges?" Giles exclaimed.

"Xander," John was trying to catch his breath "Xander told me to come tell you that everyone has turned into their costumes except me and Cordy."

Giles walked over to the card index and started to shuffle thought the cards. "And yourself and Ms. Chase were immune? Why dose that strike me as odd?" he said, almost to himself.

Both Giles and John jumped as Janus appeared with his traditional green flash. Giles grabbed the sword lying beside the card index and stepped in front of Johnathan.

"Please Mr. Giles. If I had wanted Arty here dead I wouldn't have went though the trouble of making sure he didn't transform along with the others. Although I am sure that the Doom costume that he was thinking of originally would have caused no end of trouble on him instead of who it went to instead." Janus snapped his finger and a packet appeared at Johnathan's side "A small gift to you. Inside you will find signed pictures of every actor ever to play in a star trek show. Now go home." Johnathan vanished with another snap.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Giles asked him.

"My name is Janus, and before you ask, I am not responsible for the chaos tonight. And before you go off on a question fest I will answer all of them." Janus snapped and time stopped "Now, I am in reality the lord of chaos. My name has shifted from Loki to Raven to Janus and others. Almost any god who wanted mortals to question the god's commands was me. Now, if you want to stop this spell you will need to bust my image that lays inside a costume store in town. I also came to discuss another matter. My son, Xander, will be given the chance to retain the power he has tonight and if he does then I will reward you with a boon to be granted at your request if you teach him how to reach a deep mediative state." Janus told Giles

"Well, why would you want to end this spell? Even if Xander is your son you must be gathering a lot of energy from this little spell."

"Well you see, the Powers That Be have found out about this little stunt and are actually paying attention tonight. The slayer has come into a life and death situation because of this and if nothing saves her then they will step in. If they do they only person that will be sure to come out of it alive will be Buffy. So I just want to save my son from Ethan's mistake." Janus answered

"Ethan? Ethan Rayne? I should have known. This stunt has his fingerprints all over it." Giles turned to leave.

"Wait," when Giles turned his head Janus continued "Will you teach my son? And he named his shop after himself, by the way."

Giles nodded and hurried out the doors. Janus smiled, he really should hurry along to warn Ethan about Giles's arrival. After all he had promised him protection until tomorrow right? Snapping his fingers he disappeared.

Warehouse

Carter had just finished dusting her vampire as Alex's went up in flames. Turning as one they both put their boots to the warehouse door and charged in. Alex was surprised by a mini demon who grabbed his staff while on the other side a mini demon grabbed Carter's P-90, scratching the back of her hand in the process. Cordy tore a strep of cloth from her costume and gave it to Carter. Carter quickly tied off the wound. Coming up from behind them a big red demon grabbed Cordy's neck and forced all three of them into the warehouse to reveal Spike holding Buffy's neck.

"Ah, I heard you earlier when you said your staff was your focus. Now, I've known several mages over the centuries that needed things like a wand or staff to focus their power. Now you will all watch as I kill the slayer." Spike bent towards Buffy's neck

Alex turned and threw a large orb of fire into the demon's face that was holding Cordy. Spike looked up at the demon's yell and saw Alex turn.

"You really shouldn't believe to everything you hear" Alex threw the orb.

Spike saw his unlife flash before his eyes while, across town, Giles smashed the bust of Janus. The fireball disappeared inches form Spike's face. Smiling he started toward Xander when he heard the sound of a fight behind him. He tuned just in time to see Buffy dusting the last of his vampire guards. Thinking the old idiom about he who fights and runs away Spike ducked out the door before anyone could stop him. Xander fell to the ground asleep.

Elsewhere...

Janus stood in font of a table with four chairs around it. Xander slowly appeared from nowhere to stand in front of him. "Where am I?" Xander asked "And why is Q here?"

"Question time. Great something I have done way too much of here lately." Janus snapped his finger and every D&D book related to Eberron appeared on the table. "To answer your question, I am Janus the god of chaos. You are my son. Tonight was my doing."

"Wait a second, your my father? Hows that happen? Some sort of loser exchange program?" he asked

Janus sighed. "I knew you would say that."

"When did you become Judge Dread? I thought you where Janus?" Xander quipped.

Janus smiled. "See? With that sort of sense of humor how could you possibly doubt that your my son? Anyway," Janus offered him a seat then took one himself "Its possible. You see my two last believers in the mortal realm was Anthony and Jessica Harris. I was in possession of Anthony's body when you were conceived. Unfortunately, due to the chaotic nature of my power, both Anthony and Jessica lost all ability to contact me or channel my power. My last command to them was to raise you on the hellmouth so that The Powers That Be will not know that you had been born. In exchange I would grant them protection from the many demons that lived in the town. They didn't take the separation from my power well though, tuning to the bottle for comfort.

By the pact that I have with the other gods I had to be trapped here for 15 years after my son was conceived. I was to remain trapped until a mortal realized me, which happened three weeks ago when a chaos mage by the name of Ethan Rayne was preparing a spell that he wanted me to provide the power for. Looking in on you I noticed that your most wanted desire was for the power to be a greater help to Buffy. I set into motion the chaos that has led here. Now, to the reason I called you here. You will have a choice about wither or not you want to keep the power and knowledge of the mage you went as for Halloween. If you decide to keep the power I will awaken within you the seed of wizardry and you will have to agree to be my champion. With me so far?"

Mutely Xander nodded. "May I," he asked quietly asked "may I have someone to speak to about this?"

Nodding Janus snapped, causing Alexander and Xantos to appear. Taking the seats indicated by Janus they sat. "I have brought you here to ask you both for a favor and to consult with Xander about a tough decision he has to make. He has the chance to keep the seed of wizardry as well as your knowledge. The favor I must ask you is that you will allow me to bond Xantos to Xander."

"That would cause Alex to age to his true age of 750!" Xantos broke in.

"No," Alex broke in "It is my time my dear friend. I am making too many mistakes. I should have warded both the doors as well as the windows of the Summer's house. Instead I automatically assumed that the magewrights had taken care of it as they would have in Sharn."

Seeing Xander's confused look Janus explained "Xantos is a full blooded dragon. He took the shape of the staff at his own decision when his life was almost over to continue fighting the undead. When a mortal bonds with a dragon his life force is tied into the dragons. Xantos, as a staff, will live forever. When Alex's bond is broke to Xantos he will rapidly age to the 750 year old man he is."

"Tell me Xander," Alex broke in "Why wouldn't you want to keep my power?"

"Well," he started "I am not brain guy here. I normally just try to keep my head down and not get killed. How would I go about even learning how to use this power?"

"He would have to retain possession of my vault," Alex told Janus "I have blank spell books as well as a large magical library inside that could train anyone in any area of magical expertise. But this would be hard work. Don't go thinking that you will learn this easily. Mastering wizardry is not something to be taken lightly."

"Do you wish the power to help your Buffy friend? As I stated earlier, I will aid anyone who kills this demonic presence. As long as Alex is sure he wants to move on that is." Xantos asked

"There really is no choice for me. I can not stand being pushed out. Unless I can show Buffy some skill that can be a asset to her she will just push me out." Xander answered.

"Good, now that thats settled. Xantos, I will put you in a deep hibernation until Xander learns how to access you though meditation. Once he does you will give him the command word to enter the vault. You will be his teacher in the Magus arts as you have done for centuries." Janus told them. "I will leave you two to your goodbyes in another realm."

Seeing them nod he snapped and they disappeared. "Now, what I have to tell you does not leave this room. These books are Dungeons and Dragons manuals that will be released in a few years. What I did not tell those two is that their reality is based on the creation of this game realm. These books will tell you the rules of casting as well as give you a outline of the spells you may gain access to."

"How can they exist if they are only made up?" Xander asked him

Janus smiled. "That was one of my more creative ideas. You see, for every decision a mortal makes I made it so another reality spins off for each possibility. What few know, however, is that if mortals believe in something, that belief will come in existence as another reality. Lots of people will love the Eberron setting and will believe that it really exists some where so all I did was reach into that world and plucked Alexander Harrison and placed him into you. Once you reach the vault these books, along with any other items Alex chooses to leave for you, will be in there. Good luck my son." With that Xander woke up.

SGC Infirmary

Sam sat straight up in bed. Looking around she spotted Jack and Teal'c standing between her bed and one that contained Daniel. Janet quickly rushed over to her bed and began to read the screens of the monitors.

"Carter, this is what happens when you stay all night to study some do dad. Didn't I tell you to go home?" Jack tore into Sam.

Before she could answer Janet spotted the scratch on the back of her hand. Grabbing bandages she quickly wrapped it up. "When did you do this? You were uninjured when Jack and Teal'c brought you in."

Daniel took that time to wake up and everyone, other than Sam, went to check on him. Sam could only stare at her bandaged hand. It couldn't have been real, could it?

Watcher HQ-England

Quentin Travers sat at his desk, going over reports on the latest potentials. A middle aged man burst though the door, out of breath. Standing up with a enraged look on his face, Quentin pointed to a chair in front of his desk.

"Now, what was so important that you couldn't wait for me to answer the BLOODY DOOR!" he yelled at the middle aged man.

"Forgive, forgive me sir." he panted " But all night we have been getting hits on the magical grid. Someone, not one of us, has been using dragon magic in Sunnydale."

Quentin sat back down. "I want four rank six mages, no make that five, here by the end of the week. They will be assigned to a special project under my command. I also want seven of our special retrieval teams to be assigned to the same project. I want all of them in Sunnydale by the end of the month. DO NOT let the slayer or Mr. Giles know that they are there. If a dragon is in Sunnydale then I want him captured and brought under our control asap. You are dismissed."

Nodding the mage left Quentin's office.

Sunnydale- Warehouse

A human sat among several bodies of costumed children. Their bodies all bore scorch marks though their chests. The young man sat with his face turned downward, sobbing quietly. The door to the warehouse opened and several vampires entered. Following them was a man dressed in a nicely dressed suit. Richard Wilkins the third entered and knelled next to the sobbing boy.

"Mr. Mears. I thought we had took care of this when I had to go though it with your grandfather Ted. I don't want you going on any mass murder sprees. Look at this mess," he waved his hand to encompass the dead bodies "If this gets out then, well gosh, nobody would want to move here. I need more people in town by next year. Your going to Jail now."

Before the Mayor could move Warren's foot lashed out and swept the Mayor's feet out from under him. A vampire charged him, throwing a punch at him. Warren caught his fist and struck the vampire's elbow. With a SNAP! The vampire's bone pierced the skin. The other six rushed Warren, he thrust his hand out and six volts of lighting lashed out, dusting all six. Pulling his hand in he realized a lighting bolt into the chest point blank into the chest of the remaining vampire. Warren placed his foot to the Mayor's neck.

The Mayor looked up into Warren's glowing green eyes. "Listen to me well, Mr. Mayor," Warren's voice was deeper than normal "You will now heed the voice of Victor Van Doom. Mr. Mears is now under my protection." His eyes returned to normal and he helped the Mayor to his feet. Warren's voice sounded more like his normal voice "Now I have been able to get into your personal computers and read about Senator Kinsey's offer. I believe that you should accept his offer and let them build this project Initiative as long as they allow me full access to all research carried out there as a aide to the Mayor to ensure that no unethical research is undertaken. Other than that you plans may proceed unmodified." The two walked out of the warehouse.


	3. Aftermath

Xander The Magus

Chapter Three: Aftermath

Disclaimer: I still own nothing and gain no money from anything!

AN: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. Thanks!

Warren's Room- Five Days After Halloween

Warren sat at a desk typing on a keyboard. The computer it was connected to could only be described as a Frankenstein. It had boards, wires, cards, and various odds and ends from several different models of computers connected to the unit. The results of such a weird machine could not be denied though, the computer was running several times faster then any machine currently on the planet. Connected to it were several projectors that were displaying information onto the wall behind the desk. As he typed Warren reached up idly and scratched the skin surrounding a pale metal orb embedded into the back of his neck. The sphere stood out of his next by about half an inch, the skin around it red and inflamed. Three lights on the sphere, one red, green and blue, winked on in succession and Warren grunted slightly in pain, his eyes glowing green.

"Yes, these equations are on track with what we would need to create the metal for our suit. Once we are able to fabricate the suit's skeleton and armor we can then focus on the power system." Doom spoke though Warren "Once that is behind us then we will have a armor capable of defending as well as conquering. Unlike our prototype gloves we built on Halloween night, this suit will be able to use my lighting bolts without burning out. With it we shall have the power to stamp both our names on this world. This is the goal I was programed to complete."

Laying beside him was two rubber gloves with several wires running from a black battery pack to the tips of the fingers. In several places the gloves were blackened and burnt from over use. Laying scattered over his bedroom floor were empty boxes and other containers from the computers and other electronic components they had salvaged. 'I must remember to pick up those spell books from this magic shop in town tonight.' Doom thought to himself. Turning back to the keyboard he shifted the displays, placing the metallurgy calculations to the side and pulling up a display that had the hacks and traces he was running to the main display. There were four names listed under the title, Margret Walsh, Robert Kinsey, Richard Wilkins, and Harold Mayborne. Only the feed on Wilkins had any video feed at all. Frowning Doom thought to himself ' I need to get at least one fabricater up and running so that I can make more spy flies. Whats this?'

Doom pulled up Senator Kinsey's schedule and noticed a change made a few hours ago. " It seems the good senator Kinsey has scheduled a meeting at NORAD to discuss their budget in two days time. I wonder, what he is really there for?" he asked.

His eyes returned to normal and when he spoke it was with his regular voice. "Don't you think he might be there for the reason that is stated?"

Eyes glowing again Doom answered "No, a senator leaving the plush office for a routine meeting on the budget of NORAD? No I think we will have our spy fly catch a plane out to Colorado Springs and hitch a ride with our good senator."

"Don't you think they will be able to spot something that is three inches long and three wide?" Warren replied.

"Silly boy, our fly carries a prototype cloaking device on board it. That is why it took so long to construct. I believe that the good mayor will behave himself as long as he believes we mean to let him go though with his plan." Doom programed the spy fly and watched the bot fly off toward the airport.  
Tomorrow we will gather the materials that we will need to get a faricater up and running so we can build more spy flies."

Two Days later

Warren sat back in shock at what he just heard. SGC? SG1? An government organization founded on the sole purpose of exploring space? It was like a real life Star Wars! Evil empires with evil emperors and rebellions! "I wonder what I would have to do to get into the Stargate program?" He asked out loud.

From a small speaker connected to Warren's implant came Doom's voice. "It would take you many years to go though the proper channels and that is not one of our goals. One of our top goals now, however, is to get off world. Once I learn about Goa'uld technology we can convert it into our armor. Also any and all technology gained shall go towards fulfilling our goals. This military operation is also still in its infancy. They don't even know how to construct a gate yet. "

"You know how to build a stargate?" Warren asked.

"Yes, I stole the information form Tony Stark's computers when the Shi'ar empire gave him technology to improve his inventions. True they might not be the exact same but they should function the same. Captain Carter is about to speak out against closing down the gate program." Doom answered.

SGC

Kinsey had just condemned the stargate program, with Daniel sprouting out his tale about his experience in the alternate reality. Kinsey was about to leave when Sam stood up. "Sir, I also have some information that may be relevant. I believe that there may be a alien presence inside the US already. This file," Sam handed him a folder "Shows a small city called Sunnydale. If you will take a peek at the death rate you will notice that it is way too high for such a small city. Several days ago, on Halloween, I fell unconscious. When I reached the infirmary Dr. Frasier checked my brain waves and found that, aside form autonomic functions, my brain waves were nil. While I was out I was in control of a young woman who lived there. I received a wound on the back of my hand and when I awoke, the wound was on my hand. When Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c brought me in I was uninjured. Now I believe that a very advanced piece of alien technology was responsible for this."

After a moment of reading Kinsey looked up, a strange twinkle in his eye. "I will be sure to bring this to the NID's attention. Colonel Mayborne will attend to the investigation personally. My decision on the SGC, however, remains the same. The stargate will be buried. Farewell gentleman and ladies." With that Senator Kinsey got up and left leaving five very disappointed SGC members behind them.

Warren's Room

"I think we will leave the fly in the SGC for now. If there is a attack on earth, as SG1 is convinced that there will be, then we will get more information with it there." Doom said. "Now, lets gather the materials we need to build several more spy flies. Also we will began to create blueprints for a space worthy vessel. If there is an attack then there will be debris we should be able to use." He quickly set the computer to make the calculations needed for a spacecraft.

Sunnydale High School – Day after Halloween

Xander burst though the double doors of the library. Giles looked up from the table where he was reading. A large pile of books were stacked next to him. Giles looked up at the clock noticing it was at least an hour until school begins. "Xander, what are you doing here so early?" he asked.

Xander laid the staff and bracer down on the table. "Is Janus trustworthy? He told me some things last night and I want to know if it was true."

"Well, thats what I was researching. In all the tales of Janus he never told a lie, however you must think about what he says carefully. What you think he says might not mean what you think it does. He spoke to me last night as well." Giles was staring at the items set before him while he spoke.

"He told me that I was his son. Also he offered the chance to keep Alexander's power. I need to know if what he offered was real or if he was just yanking my leg." Xander answered

"Well, according to his tales, he always came though on his bargains. Any offer he makes he comes though with. Did you accept his offer?"

"Yeah, I did. I'm tired of being dead weight to Buffy. Unless I think of something I could add then she would push me out like she tried to do when me and Willow first found out about the things that go bump in the night." Xander answered.

"Since you have accepted Janus's offer, he has asked me to teach you to meditate. If you will follow me." Giles got up and lead Xander into his office. "Now, we will focus on emptying your mind. Take a seat and try to empty your mind."

Xander gave him a lop sided smile "Hey, it can't get any more empty in here then it already is G-Man."

Xander jumped when Giles hit the top of his desk with his hand. "I will not have you putting yourself down, Xander. You are a intelligent young man. Once we begin you will have to believe in yourself that you can achieve your goals. If I hear one more comment from you about your self worth then your lessons will end immediately, do you understand?"

Nodding Xander settled into the position he saw fighters take on TV. Closing his eyes he listened to the tips Giles was giving him on how to more easily clear his mind. This continued for about a half hour when Buffy threw open the office door. "What did you do to Angel?" She demanded angrily.

Opening his eyes, Xander climbed to his feet. "He was injured by Alexander last night. I stopped them from killing him but with their enhanced vision all they saw was Angel's demon."

"Yeah right. You have always been jealous of Angel. You were probably egging them on the entire time." She responded.

Xander's eyes narrowed in anger. Giles, seeing where this was going, stepped in between the two of them. "I have NEVER been jealous of Angel. I am jealous of the place he holds in your heart but thats all!"

Buffy, with a angry sigh, turned and left the library. On her way out Buffy bumped into Willow. Taking one look at her friend's face Willow quickly followed Buffy. Giles and Xander walked out into the main library where Xander slumped into a chair. "Great, the legendary Harris luck with women has struck again.." Xander placed his face in his hands.

Giles began to polish his glasses. "I'm sure Buffy is just worried about Angel's well being. Give her a few days and I am sure she will be willing to talk."

"Yeah, but in a way she was right. Even when I was yelling at the two of them to stop, a small part of me was reveling in the pain I was causing Angel." he replied from his hands.

"Yes, well thats what jealously will do to someone. The hardest thing a person can ever do is to set their personal feelings for someone aside and do what is best for that person. You should try and explain it to her in a few days when you both have had time to calm down. In the meantime I suggest you go to class."

Getting up Xander grabbed his backpack and nodded his head toward the staff and bracer. "Could you lock those up for me? Until I contact Xantos they are just two more things someone could pawn." Giles nodded and Xander headed out the doors to class.

Student Lounge- Same Time

You should have seen him," Buffy was telling Willow as they both took a seat on the couches "He had spilled blood everywhere trying to drink it and he had badly bandaged his chest. It was terrible."

"Yeah but Buffy, do you really think that Xander would have encouraged his two passengers in hurting Angel? If anything he would have known that it would hurt you." Willow replied.

"I don't know Wills. I know he has been jealous of Angel before and added into what he did last night, I just don't know. What do you remember from last night? All I remember is a fuzzy memory of loving poems."

"Thats what I wanted to ask Giles about this morning. I remember going though PHD studies, Air force training, even lessons involving small arms. I dreamed about flying in a plane over desert somewhere all night last night." Willow replied. "Are you going to talk to Xander about this?"

"Not right now. We're both still pretty mad right now and all that would happen is yelling at each other. I might talk to him in a day or two, give him some time to stew." She responded.

"Thats OK." Willow's face lit up "Are you going to play nurse and help Angel get better?"

Buffy's face lit up as well and they continued their conversion.

Sunnydale High school Library-Five days later

Xander sat crossed legged on the table in the library while Buffy and Giles sparred in the middle of the room. Xander had made great progress by practicing an hour every morning as well as an hour every evening at home. Willow had been researching Sam Carter's life, her memories were hanging on despite Giles best efforts at cleansing them. Johnathan was due to come tonight to receive the whole speech on the slayer tonight, Giles held off until he was sure both Xander and Buffy could be in the same room together.

"By learning to meditate and block out distractions," Giles was telling Xander "Even during battle you learn how to avoid...OAF!" Buffy took Giles distraction and manged to land a hard blow to Giles's stomach. Buffy moved to follow up on her advantage when Giles held up his hand. "As Buffy just demonstrated, becoming distracted during battle gives your opponent a advantage. I believe that will be all for both of you today. Buffy, you will patrol tonight. Xander, you continue to practice at home."

Xander and Buffy walked out the library doors together. After a few minutes of silence when Xander turned to Buffy. "OK, Look. I'm sorry Angel got hurt on Halloween. I was able to stop them from killing him. Next time I see him I will apologize, OK?"

Figuring he had suffered enough, Buffy nodded. Angel was better now after all and Giles did say Xander would have had no control over his body while the spell was active. "Alright, I forgive you for now."

The two of them joined Willow sitting in the lounge. "And I know just how to cheer you up Buffster...."

"You could try a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice but maybe she is over that." Ford interrupted Xander.

Janus's Realm-Same Time

Janus watched Buffy introduce Ford to her friends. A small smile played across his face as he thought about the chaos soon to come. A red haired woman with pale skin waring a black dress appeared in a flowing shadow. "You've been a bad boy, my brother." Her voice was sultry and silky.

Janus waved his hand in dismissal. "Let them try. I have more then enough power to fight them thanks to Halloween. Was that what brought the first evil to my humble realm?"

"No, I've talked them out of punishing you directly. They are scared that the combat would awaken our dear brother of light. Instead, they have granted me with the power to create a champion to counter your son. I will make him tonight." She replied.

"Fine, Fine. We will see which one of them is the stronger. We have played such games for centuries. I just wish our brother would wake and take his pieces back. The game would be a lot more fun were they controlled by a master." Janus responded as The First vanished in a shadow.

Sunnydale-That evening

A circle of Bringers surrounded a grave stone, chanting. The First appeared on top of the grave and the leader of the Bringers stepped forward.

"By the blood of the killer, the power I have been granted, and the dark nature of the creature. I summon thee back to this world in your unholy darkness!" At the last word of his spell, the lead Bringer stabbed the bloody knife into the grave. A white wave of energy flowed into the knife and form there into the grave. When the energy ceased a vampire burst forth from the grave. Bowing down before the First, he was covered in dirt.

"Now, my pet," The First spoke "The mists of Ravenloft will take you and when you return you shall have great control over the dead." The knelling vampire was covered in mist and when it cleared the vampire was gone.


	4. Awaking of Power

A/N: This chapter takes place slightly before 'Whats my line'. In the stargate time line 'Serpents song' , 'The Serpent's Lair' and Prisoners have happened. Things in 'Lie to me' and 'The dark age' happened exactly the same as in the show. Thanks to all who reviewed!

Xander was sitting in his room. He was getting ready to try a new method of meditation called visualization that Giles said might be a little easier for him then traditional methods. Closing his eyes he imagined himself in pitch blackness with a small white light in the distance. With a slight grunt he started to walk towards the light. 'Hmm, I wonder what the light will end up being' he thought 'Giles was a bit vague about that little detail.'

On his way he was distracted by a large drumming, beating regularly, coming from all around him. It was just too loud! How was he spoused to concentrate long enough to reach that light when this noise was coming from all around him? Xander slowly pushed and slowly the drum slowed. No matter how hard he tried he could not stop it completely but got it down to a manageable beat. Nodding he continued toward the light, with the world going fuzzy every so often when the drum beat. Slowly, very slowly, a road started to appear beneath Xander's feet. Startled Xander looked around and noticed he was in a alley heading towards the entrance to the Bronze. He shrugged and opened the door. The light was coming from inside. Xander entered, the Bronze was completely empty except for a single person near the stage, standing with his back to Xander. Xander spared a glance around the club but could not see where the light was. He walked toward the person and reached out to tap him on the shoulder. Before Xander could touch the person, he turned revealing himself to be Jessie. Xander took a step back in shock as Jessie spoke "Hey bro, what took ya so long?".

Jessie was wearing the exact same black clothes he wore when Xander had staked him. Blood was dripping from a stake that was stuck in his chest. Noticing Xander stare at the stake, Jessie shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about that bro. So ya staked me, big deal. I'm not mad about that. What I am mad about though is the fact that you haven't said one word about or to me since my death. Not only that but the fact that the blond bitch who is responsible for my death has now taken my place. Willow I understand, she always wanted a woman friend. You just forgot me though bro."

"Your not real," Xander took a step back "you were killed almost a year ago."

"Ya, just keep telling yourself that, Xan-man. Maybe," Jessie brought his hands up to his face with a pretend look of fear on his face "The monster will vanish. Or maybe someone will save you from him. Face it bro, you are all on your own. Once I drink you I will take over and you will be just a memory." Jessie bent toward a suddenly still Xander. He was about to bite when Xander snapped out of his trance. Xander quickly turned, got up and fell onto the bed. He slowly sobbed himself to sleep.

The Next Day-Library

As Xander came though the double doors of the library he threw down his backpack beside the door and yelled "Giles!"

Giles came walking out of the stacks and quickly walked over to the distraught young man. "Xander, what brings you to school so early?"

"I needed to talk to ya G-man. I tried the visualization you told me to and it worked." Xander hesitated before he continued "It started out OK, I saw the darkness with the light in the distance and I started to move to it when someone decided to start beating on a drum. No matter how much I focused I couldn't get it to shut up only slow it down."

"I should bloody well hope not," Giles responded "That sound was your heart! What you need to realize is that by mediating you are striving to control your mind as well as your body. When you slowed the 'drum' as you put it you really slowed your heart. If you had managed to completely stop the sound then you would have stopped your heart."

Xander was visibly shaken by this. That had been his heart? Then how did Jessie fit into all of this? Was he a ghost? Only one way to find out. "There was one more thing G-man. As I followed the light, getting closer to it the Bronze materialized in front of me. When I went in there was only one person inside. It was Jessie. He told me," Xander broke up at this point "He told me that if he feed off me then I would die and he would be reborn. Was he telling the truth? Is he some kind of ghost come for he vengeance?"

"My dear boy, from what you and Willow tell me of Jessie he would have hated to have to kill people in order to live. The Bronze was merely a representation of the place where you last saw your friend. Him manifesting as a vampire is just a representation of your guilt over his death. As you move further into your mind you may or may not come across more of these. All you have to do is get past them to continue on toward the light. Do not let fear of confronting this apparition stop you from advancing. You will just have to try again."

"So your just telling me to close my eyes and plow though this?" Xander asked with a smile on his face.

"In essence, yes. Why is it that you always manage to state a complex subject in its most simplest form?"

"Hey, I am a simple man. Give me my twinkles and my friends and I'm happy." Xander answered.

"Now, lets try this again." Giles moved the several chairs out of the way.

"Wait, Now?" The fear from the previous evening, along with the guilt, showing in Xander's voice."But I have just managed to understand what you have told me happened last night, shouldn't I take a little time to let it sink it?"

"Xander everyone has their fears. Learning to either deal with them or avoid them is something each person must do for themselves. If you don't try again then there is a good chance that your fear will prevent you from ever trying again. If you appear to be suffering then I will awake you." Giles responded.

Giles was right, Xander reflected. This time I will just think about what Buffy would do. Maybe then ill have the courage to deal with Jessie. Xander settled down, closed his eyes and began. The Bronze appeared just as he left it last night except that he was several feet from the spot he disappeared last evening. Swallowing a large lump of fear Xander spared a quick glance around the club but still couldn't spot the light. Jessie charged Xander. 'Think Xander,' Xander thought 'What would Buffy, nah, she would just kick his ass and stab a pointy stake in his heart. Wait a minute though, what did she do to defeat Luke?' Xander grabbed a chair and threw it though the window behind the stage. Unlike when Buffy did it a bright ray of light came though it and struck Jessie in the chest. Jessie gave a very loud yell and burst into flames. A single tear fell from Xander's eye as he climbed out the window toward the blazing white light in the distance. The road reappeared heading straight for the light.

Xander reached a large table with two chairs around it. Floating above the table was a large white globe of light. This, apparently, was the light he had been following this entire time. Connected to the globe was a small string of red that lead off into the distance. Xander sat down in a chair and the orb rushed toward him. Xander tried to shield his face with his hands and inadvertently touched the orb rushing toward him. His mind lit up with power, a strange yet somehow familiar mind making itself known inside his mind. It was like, man, there was no way to describe it! It was power in of itself flowing inside of him. Lighting flew though his veins and into his mind. As it touched his mind images, memories, flooded his mind in a jumble. It took him a few minutes to sort anything out so that any one image made any sense. He saw a great train like vehicle with lighting around its front rushing down a row of stones set into the ground. He saw something flying though the air that looked like a old fashioned gallon with a ring of fire around the middle. He saw many creatures that looked like men made out of metal and wood doing combat with each other under two different flags. A terrific battle of two different nations.

A slew of other memories, some just as strange and terrifying as the ones that had come before, assaulted Xander's mind. Xander gave up trying to make sense of any of the images he was seeing. One memory of a bright green portal grew until it swallowed up the entire world filled Xander with a sense of fear and loss. The last memory he saw was of a white dragon raining a frosty death, in the form of his breath, upon a small town. He raised his dragon staff and sent a large fireball into the junction of the dragon's wings sending it crashing into the side of a mountain. A sound of someone clearing his throat broke him out of the memories. Xantos was sitting in the seat opposite of his own with a expecting look upon his face.

"Xantos, what was that?" Xander asked the dragon

"You were immersed inside of Alexander's memories. Everything you saw was something that he experienced in his life. Your mind required a jolt to snap out of the inspection of the memories. I believe, however, that congratulations are in order. You have manged to reach not only your power, but also the link that binds the two of us together. Next time you meditate I want you to hold my staff. Using it as a intermediary will allow me to shield you from your fears until such a time as you think your able to deal with them. Right now though, I shall begin to teach you how to control the power you have just unlocked inside of you." Xantos tilted his head "I think that may have to wait, Mr. Giles is trying to wake you up."

Nodding Xander closed his eyes. When he opened them again he was sitting on the floor of the library being gently shook by Giles. Looking up, Xander felt a surge of confidence as he stood. He had done it! "I did it G-Man!" Xander did the snoopy dance for several seconds, stopping only when Willow and Buffy walked though the library doors.

"Whats got ya doing the snoopy dance, Xander?" Willow asked taking a seat.

"I did it! I did the whole meditation thing and got into contact with Xantos! He said he was going to begin to teach me how to control the power inside of me next time I meditate." Xander answered her.

"So, when ya going to do it?" Willow asked him.

"Well, I wanted to do it now but, ya know, class? So I was going to ask Giles if I could borrow the library as well as my bracer and staff after school."

"Well, since I have only been keeping them safe at your request, I don't see any reason why not." Giles answered.

"Since Xander's big news has been spilled, I have a small problem for the gang." Buffy leaned back in her chair and continued "Last night on patrol..."

FLASHBACK- Previous night's patrol

Buffy was frowning at the blood stain on the front of her shirt. That last vamp had gotten blood all over her new navy blue T-shirt! There was no way that it was going to come out and she really liked this shirt. All thought of her shirt was driven from her mind when she heard the sound of a struggle coming from ahead of her. Running past several gravestones Buffy leaped over a small dividing wall to land in a crouch behind some bushes. Buffy looked up seeing someone wearing a green cloak with a cape fighting three vampires. As the figure spun Buffy saw the man was wearing body armor that gave off a slightly golden shine. The figure raised a armored forearm and blocked a vampire's punch. The vampire drew back slightly, right hand clutching his injured left arm. The armored figure drew back his own fist, a six inch wooden blade popping out of the back of his gauntlets, and ran the blade into the vampire's heart. Buffy almost rushed in the help when the other two vampires rushed the man from behind, only to stop when he turned with his arms stretched out towards the vampires. The figure seemed to smile and lighting flashed out of his fingertips dusting the last of the vampires. The figure took a quick look around and walked off into the night.

Buffy silently behind the armored man, wanting to see what he was. She had followed him for several minutes before she heard a stick snap behind her. Spinning she raised her stake, only to see the armored man standing behind her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I stepped on the twig on purpose, just so you don't think me clumsy. What is such a young girl doing in a graveyard in the middle of the night?" His voice was deep and male.

"Why should I tell you anything? I just saw you kill three vampires in less then three minutes with lighting. Are you some kind of mage?" She asked him.

"From the weapon you raised against me I would surmise that you were out here tonight to kill these vile beings as much as I was. As for being a mage, I do have a knowledge of magic that is vastly superior to your own." he responded raising his hand.

Buffy, seeing him raise his hand, reacted as she had been trained and leaped at him. He side stepped her and grabbed her by the back of her shirt. Buffy spun, tearing her shirt, and grabbed a hold of the man's hand. What she was going to do was throw him against the tombstone by the tree. What actually happened was that Buffy received a large electrical shock and fell to the ground. The man placed his foot on Buffy's throat and spoke to her. "I will not kill you for trying to lay your hands upon me this time. Nor will I kill you for your curiosity. Next time, however, I will not show such restraint against those that attack me." He released her and walked off into the darkness.

Present – Library

"... A couple minutes later I found I could move and I got my butt out of there." Buffy finished.

Giles took his glasses off and started to polish them. "I do not know what that could have been. From the way he was dressed and the way he fought I would lean toward human mage myself. I will research any possible demon but I truly believe that it was a human."

Willow looked over at Xander who appeared to be trying to think of something. "Whats wrong Xander?"

"Just something about Buff's description about that guy rang a bell to me. O well, I'll think of it again sometime."

The three teens got up and were leaving the library. "Hey, guess what! I found Samantha Carter! Shes a Major now and working at NORAD doing deep space..." Willow's voice trailed out as they vanished from Giles's view.

First National Bank Of Sunnydale- Same time

Stan, the bank manager, walked into the bank whistling. 'Last night with Gina had gone really well, if it kept up like this then he might even get laid soon' He thought. He walked over to the vault and inputed the nine digit combo to the door. Once it opened his smile vanished from his face to be replaced with a look of astonishment. At the back of the vault was a very large hole and several tons of rubble scattered across the floor. He slammed his hand down on the alert button on the inside of the vault and, since it was daytime, almost instantly heard police sirens off in the distance.

Later...

Stan was speaking to a detective about the robbery while his partner was examining the damage to the back wall. Detective Janet was knelling and trying to gather a sample of what was once the back of the vault. 'Whoever did this used something, probably a sludge hammer, against the brick of the outside of the building and then spent what, three or four hours, using a plasma cutter on the three foot steel wall?' she thought 'And while he was doing this nobody at all saw any cars or other vehicle with which to transport the VERY large amount of cash away form the scene. Granted this IS Sunnydale but that means that someone would have remembered someone driving just that much more, especially at night.'

Jim had finished questioning Stan and walked over to his partner. "What do ya think? Mr. Stan there says there was over five hundred thousand missing in cash and items. Some of these boxes seem to have been ripped out of the wall itself."

"The back wall looks like it was pounded away with a sludge hammer, while the steel itself looks like someone took a plasma cutter to it. The wall is believable but no way do I think anyone stayed outside at night for over four hours melting the three feet of steel. No one around here remembers seeing any type of car, truck, or other vehicle to transport the goods. There is a very high chance that we are talking about a 'gang on PCP' event here." she answered.

"Damn, no wonder Jack passed this case on to us. The Mayor's answer to this problem is still to cover it up. Come on, I have a lead on a murderer here in Sunnydale we can pin this on." He held out his hand to her.

"So we are just going to keep covering up this problem? Whens anybody going to do anything about it?" Janet stood on her own and glared at Jim.

"Look, we can't do anything until the Mayor says so. Your new on the force, what do you think happened to the last cop that went out to deal with this problem on his own? You took his spot." he took a quick look around and, noticing no other cops near him, whispered "When we get back to the office though, look up Buffy Summer's file. The Mayor sent it to us." The two walked out of the bank whispering.

Warren's Residence

Doom's sphere sat in a dock connected to the computer. He was uploading last night's test fight with the vampires into the computer as well as the encounter with Buffy. ' Such a small girl, what could she possibly think she could do against vampires?' he thought. On a impulse he ran a search on the words 'girl' 'vampire' and 'hunter'. 'Hmmm, how intriguing. I have triggered a watchdog program designed to stop my search and relay my location to a remote location. Lets see how much they like it' Doom quickly reversed the program's encoding and started it running. After a few minutes data started to flow back though the program. Several minutes later the data stream unexpectedly shut down. 'They must have shut their computers down. Lets see what they are.' Doom thought.

Doom shifted though the data and read all about the Slayer, watchers and all about the supernatural. He was starting to read about the identity of the current slayer when the files cut off. At that moment his thoughts were interrupted by Warren returning. He had requested a chance to test out the suit's computer when it was not guided by Doom's intelligence and Doom had agreed. 'He probably just wants to kill more vampires. This boy has a thirst for power that I must train out of him. He might decide that he is stronger than I am.' Doom thought. He stamped heavily down the stairs wearing the armor Doom had built for the strange metal his O.S.U (Orbital Salvage Unit) had retrieved on its first trip into space after the destruction of the mother ships. Its second had salvaged a strange staff which had turned out to be a weapon. On its third trip however it was shot down by the US military. That angered him, it had taken him four nights to build it! Unfortunately the cloak wouldn't yet work on a O.S.U., too much solar radiation shorted it out.

Warren came into the room carrying several dozen burlap bags with First National Bank stamped on the sides of them. Strapped to his back was the strange staff weapon they had retrieved from space. He dropped them onto his bed and several bundles of wrapped cash fell out. Doom checked his internal police scanners and was enraged. 'This, this, CHILD! He used My armor to commit a petty robbery? This would not do.' He thought.

Warren disconnected Doom and implanted him in the socket on the back of his neck. "Young man, why am I detecting traces of steel and brick all over my armor? And why am I getting reports of a bank robbery last night?" Doom's speakers asked.

"I was merely getting some capitol to expand my facilities and get more building materials." Warren sat before the computer and leaned back in his chair.

Warren's eyes glowed green. "Listen you stupid, stupid, boy. If anyone caught sight of you during this miserable excuse of a mission it will be connected to me later when I decide to reveal myself. I do not need you going out and misusing my equipment. Do I make myself clear?"

Warren's eyes returned to normal. He clasped his hands behind his head. "Hey, its cool man. We're invincible. You managed to defeat ever major superpower of your world time and again. And they were much more advanced and hand superheros on their side. What can Sunnydale's finest do against us?"

"You fool! You assume that because you have read something in your damn comic books that I can reproduce those feats on demand? I had the resources of a entire country to call upon. Here all the resources I have are a miserable little boy, what others disregard and what you steal. Worse, if the military discovers that I can provide them with advanced weapons we would both be in deep trouble. We start at the Initiative in a months time. Perhaps by then I will allow you the use of MY armor once more." Doom sent a wireless signal to his armor and released Warren's body. Warren rushed over to the suit only to have it's magnetic seals close. No matter what Warren did, he could not get them to release.

Library – After School

Xander sat with his eyes close and his staff laid across his lap. It was much harder to meditate with the sounds of combat in the background. Giles and Buffy were training at the same time while Johnathan was reading up on the demonic community. Xander gritted his teeth together in irritation. 'I have done this once I can do it again.' he thought 'But lets just take one quick peek.' Xander cracked his eyes and watched Buffy tumble around the room, sparring with Giles. A few minutes later Giles spared a glance towards Xander and noticed him intently watching Buffy. Maneuvering into a advantage, in a spot where Xander could not see him, Giles pounded the table behind Xander with the end of his quarterstaff. Xander sat bolt upright 'Damn, he caught me!' he thought.

"Buffy, I believe thats enough for today. Do a quick patrol tonight and we will see you tomorrow. Xander I would like to speak with you for a moment." Giles told the two of them.

Ginning Buffy walked over to the table and picked up her backpack. "Come on John, Xander needs to take his lickens. See ya at the Bronze later?"

"Ya, you coming tonight John?" he asked

"Well, I was going to watch the Bond marathon tonight but ya, ill be there." with that both Johnathan and Buffy left the library.

Xander entered Giles's office to find the elder man had removed all the chairs from the room. He picked up a teacup form the desk and sipped. "I would like you to try and meditate without an audience. I believe that having distractions right now is counter productive to what you are trying to achieve." he told Xander.

Xander settled down and assumed the familiar position. It took him a few minutes to achieve the right mental situation but he opened his eyes to see the table with its globe and Xantos sitting at the far seat. "Ah, I can sense you are holding my staff this time. When you are holding the staff when you meditate I will be able to divert you from your inner demons until you believe you are ready to face them. Also while you are holding the staff you will be able to read, write and speak the Dragonic language. Now, for your first lesson. The orb in front of you is a representation of your power. Reach out and touch it." Xantos told him.

Xander reached out and did as he was told. The energy felt as it did the first time. The lighting flew though his veins and played over his skin. Lighting bolts flew from fingertip to fingertip and wherever it touched his skin he could feel it being reabsorbed by his body and following back through his veins. "Now," Xander looked back toward Xantos as he spoke. "Pull it all back into your body. Place it all back into your core. Never let your power control you. While it is a part of you, it does not know the difference between good and evil. Like fire it just wants to run free, oblivious to the damage it may cause in the process."

Xander frowned and Concentrated. The lighting slowly gravitated toward his chest above his heart. Even more slowly the lighting started to vanish into his body. After what seemed hours the ball of lighting finally completely vanished into Xander's body. While it no longer held any outward appearance Xander could feel it just within his grasp, eager to be put to us and Xander knew that should he call it would answer.

Xantos smiled 'You were right my old friend,' he thought ' He is mastering the basics faster than any other human I have taught.' "Alright," Xantos spoke out load "Now it is time for you to learn the basics of spellcasting. I will now give you the command words to enter the vault. By laying your hand upon the ruby in the bracer and speaking 'Orgato ve persvek' you will be able to enter the vault. Once inside you merely have to touch the ruby and will yourself out. If you wish to transport a item into the vault without entering it yourself point the bracer at the item and speak ''Clax nomeno minben'. If you wish to get an item from the vault without entering it speak 'Majak ve' and the items name. If you remove the ruby from the bracer and attach it to a doorway, speak these words 'Evrek sia okarthel'. The door will allow anyone who enters to be transported into the vault. While the ruby remains attached to the door the vault will be connected to this plane so you will, for instance, be able to hear someone yelling at you from outside. You may also receive any transmissions from the outside world. Inside the vault you will find your first spellbook. Do you understand?" Xantos leaned forward.

Xantos had to repeat the command words several times before Xander could repeat them without error. Grinning Xander closed his eyes and disappeared.

A/N: Orgato ve persvek- Let me in

Majak ve- Give me

Evrek sia okarthel- Reveal my home

Clax nomeno minben- Take this item

Dragonic translation provided by .com/


	5. A taste of whats to come

Xander The Magus

Chapter Five

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy the vampire slayer. I also do not own any marvel comic characters. Eberron is owned by Wizards of the coast and was created by Keith Baker. For my story a vampire is what we know and love form Buffy and a Vampyre is a vampire from D&D.

The Vault

Xander looked around him after he appeared. Surrounding him were bookcases made out of a strange dark wood. In the center of the room was a large table and chairs made out of the exact same wood. Xander causally strolled though the stacks, reading the titles of the books that he could while examining the ones he couldn't. The entire north side of the library held books on various demons and undead. While the south side held books on topics of magic and spell casting. Sitting on the table in the middle was a amulet with a note attached and a small bag.

Xander picked up the note. 'For the one who has a fear of the moon. Alexander. Thats weird.' Xander thought 'Why would he leave this here?' Shrugging he laid it down upon the table once more and picked up the bag next to it. Inside were several dozen seeds along with another note. 'These seeds are of several different trees that exist in Eberron. They normally would take years to grow but these have been spelled by a druid to grow to adulthood in less than a month. After that they, and all of their seeds, will grow normally. Enjoy them with my blessing. Alexander." Xander read. Xander took one last look around the vault and spoke the word to exit and returned to the high school.

Sunnydale High

Xander appeared in the exact same spot that he had entered the Vault in. Giles, who had been placing books back on the shelves, nearly jumped out of his tweed suit at the loud bang that Xander made. "Wow, sorry G-man, I didn't mean to scare ya." Xander sat down and grabbed Xantos.

"Well, its not every day that I hear loud noises in my library. So, tell me." Giles crossed the room and sat opposite of the young man "What was in the Vault?"

"Well, I think that Alexander was your kind of man. His most valuable items were books. Well, that and a amulet and a bunch of seeds."

'Indeed young man, Knowledge is power and Alexander was hailed as one of the most powerful Magus in history.' Xantos thought to Xander.

Xander groaned and told Giles what he had been told. Giles smiled and cleaned his glasses. "Well that should not be such a surprise Xander. If he is such a powerful spell caster then he would have had to study. Nothing ever comes to anyone by itself. Now can you ask your friend if he could tell me the differences between the magics that Alexander used and the magic that we use here?"

Xander tilted his head to the side as if listening to someone. "He says that he has not had enough time to study the magic of this plane for quite some time. The last time he was on Earth or in this dimension was when , whoa, hey G-man you want to know what threw the demons off of Earth? According to Xantos him and his kin did."

"Could he explain further? That time is a great mystery to the council."

"Well, he says that pure blooded dragons are second circle demons originally. All pure blood dragons have the ability to cross dimensional barriers as well as the ones that guard the different planes. Most dragons, unlike most powerful demons, cannot stand the presence of other demons. The different species of dragons have different attitudes. The metallic dragons, the gold, sliver, bronze, brass, bronze, copper etc, wanted to protect the fledgling humans while the chromatic dragons wanted to overthrow the demon overlords of the Earth and have humans as their slaves. All dragons, evil and good alike, joined forces to push the demons off the plane. Afterwards they all had a council to come to a decision about what to do with the new race." Xander grabbed a glass of water and took a good long drink before continuing.

"They decided that they would pair off and each take a small amount of humans, all of whom agreed to it, and go into different planes and dimensions. Some few of both colors didn't take any humans but set out to find a place they could call home. Two dragons, one gold and one red, were set the task of guarding and protecting the Earth. Xantos dose not know what happened to this planet afterwards because he was one of the ones who left without any slaves. A few centuries later the dragons learned that if their eggs were hatched on a planet then their children lost the ability to travel the planes. They found out that the hatchlings had other powers, though not as powerful as the ones they lost they were still quite powerful. Whew, that was long and dull."

Giles did not agree if his actions were anything to go by. He was busy writing the tale down in a blank book. Xander smiled and quietly left the library to go take his career test. He took Xantos with him and nobody seemed to see the staff at all.

Computer Lab - Sunnydale High

Willow sat at a computer busily typing away at the computer. She had found a way to contact Samantha Carter at last. She had to hack several Air Force databases until she found one that held the address but she was finally going to contact the Major. Biting her lip she thought about it.'What am I going to say? Hi, I dressed up as you for Halloween and was transformed into you by a chaos mage. Just wanted to say Hi and how are ya doing? The men in white would be at her door in less than a day.'

It took her several minutes until she came up with the perfect cover story. She created a new Email account, one she hoped wouldn't be traced back to her instantly, and sent a letter saying she was a young woman who was considering a career in the Air Force. Putting in all kinds of nice neat things she signed it with her first name and added a line of coding that would prevent the government from pinpointing her to anywhere but California. She hit send and left to go take her career test.

Across Town in a empty warehouse

A figure sat in a high backed chair, with a tall pale man standing next to him, looking over the small crowd of vampires before it. The creature was waring a black robe with the hood pulled up so far it shed a dark shadow onto his face. The warehouse, abandoned like so many in Sunnydale, was large and spacious. The figure could remember when its master had called him back less than a week ago. The first evil had summoned him back to this world after seventy years spent in Ravenloft. The master had told him that the time in Ravenloft passes as fast as the dark powers will it to so he was able to gain a very large amount of power in a very short amount of time. He now was a very powerful necromancer. The robe, his staff and several other items of power were all that he had been able to bring back other than his second in command, Eric. Eric was, in his own terms, a Vampyre. Superior to the demonic possessed dead bodies of this world.

He had found Eric in a small town feeding on the local populace in secret. He showed Eric how powerful he truly could be. Several weeks later Eric had sworn his loyalty to him and he had sworn to show him how to gain power beyond the wildest dreams of any sane person. His promise had already been fulfilled in part due to the fact that the Hellmouth had enhanced his powers several times over. Now he had summoned the dozen vampires that stood before him to help him gage exactly how strong both the slayer and Xander had become.

"My dear minions, what I would like you to do is attack the slayer when she is patrolling in the cemetery tonight." The figure spoke in a raspy voice.

"But, all we would be doing is throwing out lives away. The slayer eats fresh vamps like us by the dozen. Why don't you send your right hand after her to kill them?"

"Because you fool. If I sent Eric after them they would find out that a new, more powerful force has arrived in Sunneydale. If I send you, however, then all they would see is the same old vampires with a new twist. I plan on sending a few ghouls with you to give the Slayer a more difficult time. The goal of the attack is to capture her, not kill her. I expect you to keep the ghouls under control and if you cannot then I will show you levels of pain that you will never experience again. Am I understood or should I have Eric pound the point home?"

Eric pulled his longsword from its sheath and held it pointing towards the floor. At a mental command flames burst out over the blade but never seemed to touch the vampyre. The vampires all shook their heads, fear of the large man evident on their faces. Eric re-sheathed his blade and returned to his position next to his master. The master waved his hand the the vampires scurried over one another to leave the building and perform their master's mission. Following them were four hairless creatures with long six inch tongues hanging out of their mouths.

"Eric, I want you to continue looking for likely people to turn. I need you to have at least ten other vampyres with which to challenge the magus and the slayer. Now leave me." Eric nodded and left the necromancer alone with his thoughts.

Graveyard – Later that night

Buffy had just finished off the last of Spikes men, missing Dalton, when she heard someone sneaking up behind her. Spinning around she spotted six more vampires approaching her from the trees.

"Oh, so what? You guys having a party tonight and not invite me? Thats not very nice you know." Buffy charged the lead vamp, catching him dead center with her stake.

The other vampires charged her as one, with the exception of one which held back. One by one the vampires were dusted by Buffy as she wove in between them in a dance of kicks and punches. When only the one who remained back was left he nodded and the four ghouls charged out from behind the mausoleum where they had hidden them before the fight. Buffy punched the first one that came into range and felt a slight stinging as he was able to bite her in return. A numbing feeling, starting in her fist and quickly spreading throughout her body, quickly caused her to drop to the ground. The vampire waved the ghouls off with quite some difficulty and was about to pick up her prone body when he was struck from behind.

Angel was doing his own patrol when he had heard sounds of a struggle in a graveyard nearby. He arrived just in time to catch the ghoul biting Buffy and, seeing the vampire about to pick Buffy up, attacked the vamp form behind. Quickly staking him he turned his sights to the four creatures now eying him. He was able to et a good look at the creatures as they closed to attack. They appeared more or less humanoid, but had mottled, decaying flesh drawn tight across their visible bones and a six inch tongue that was flopping around his chest. That was all the time he got before they were upon him. Angel lay into them with his fists but no matter how much damage he did to them they would just get back up again. Finely, after several minutes the demons inside of Angel go the better of him and he tore the head of the next one clean off the body. He was surprised at how easily it came off for a second before he had to repeat the process for the other three of them.

Angel wiped his hands off on the grass and bent down to check on Buffy. The felling was slowly coming back to her limbs as the poison wore off. She was able to sit up after a few moments.

"Thanks Angel. Do you know what those things were?" She asked pulling him closer.

"No, I have never seen anything like that before. This seems like something that Giles would be interested in. Maybe he can figure out what they were. For now lets get you home." He answered.

Angel lifted Buffy into his arms and took her home. Unnoticed by both of them Eric stood in the shadows. He had studied both Buffy's and then Angel's fighting styles to get a handle on them. He had found two people he had already captured in order to turn them in the presence of his master later tonight and thought he would check up on the pitiful vampires.

'Shes not bad for a human. Hes just a pathetic excuse for a vampire.' he thought 'That I would live to see the day a vampire couldn't handle a ghoul. Well, back to the master with the good news.' Turning he headed toward the warehouse.


	6. Xander's First Spell

Chapter Six Discoveries

Janus's Realm

Janus looked down upon the town of Sunnydale with a look of rage on his face. How could they have let him get away with this? They called this balance? At this rate The First's new master would be able to kill both his son as well as the slayer without much trouble at all. Not only did the new Master have seventy years of experience on his son but he also had a minion that made most demons look cute and fluffy by comparison.

He was currently watching Eric drain two more victims, turning one and just killing the other off. Janus was fed up. He would normally relish the chaos this vampyre was generating but the bare facts of the matter were that if things were left the way they were going then the First would be able to let the elder ones loose again on the Earth. While he didn't favor demons over humans, or vica versa, the human mind was able to handle decisions faster then the average demon. A typical human made decisions everyday that caused great amounts of chaos. Demons caused chaos but very little of it was on a daily basis. On the long haul it was better to keep demonic control to a minimum.

Finely he summoned his brother. A dark pool appeared amidst the green light that composed Janus's realm. A figure, in the form of Dru, slowly formed into a life sized being. The first tilted her head to the side.

"Why, whatever is the matter brother dearest?" She asked

"The problem is your new champion. The powers agreed to your having a champion, not to you having someone who could kill most of their pawns in a single day. How did you expect them not to involve themselves personally after they see it?" He asked her.

"If you would look my pet is not after the champions of the light. He only has one target at this moment and that would be your son. You messed up you know," The first shifted into Buffy "If you had been more diplomatic then you wouldn't be in this spot. But no, you had to piss off most of your equals...."

"Those bastards are not my equals. Hell, while your bound your not even my equal except in intelligence. The only equals I currently have are the Ancients. And they don't even want much to do with us at all."

"Yes, but this is all your fault you know. If you had been more pleasing towards the emissary of our dear sleeping brothers they wouldn't have seen a chance to get back at you for all the tricks and pranks you have done on them. They agreed to allow me to send my champion to Ravenloft for training. In their haste to prove that they are just as smart as your are they seemed to forget that time in Ravenloft is determined by the darks powers." She responded, examining her nails in a bored manner.

"Dark powers? They wouldn't cut a fingernail without your say so."

"Not the point. If you would just be more careful of others feelings then maybe you wouldn't have to have your son try and stop a very powerful necromancer." With a very load and very long laugh the first vanished in a flash of darkness.

Meanwhile at the Sunnydale Skating Rink....

Buffy wove a circle in the ice while waiting for Angel. She had forgotten how much she had missed this. When she was on the ice all her worries seemed to fall away and she seemed truly free from destiny, her duties and, above all, any demons that wanted her dead. Unseen by Buffy Angel stood watching her from the doorway reveling in the pure joy on Buffy's face. This had been a good idea. Buffy had been too worried about this career week at school, she needed to remember that not all the world was about her destiny. He decided to give her a few more moments alone while he just sat there and watched.

A shadow creeped in behind Angel. Silently the figure unwound a chain from his fist holding it stretched between his two hands. He still had one wrapped around his other fist and several blades of varying length stored in positions around his body. Angel heard a noise and turned in time to receive a hard right from the fist wrapped in the chain. The figure stepped into the light revealing a tall very ugly man with scars all over his face. He quickly glanced down at Angel to ensure he was still undead and quietly moved around the rink, keeping out of sight of the slayer. Buffy tried a spin she hadn't done in years and it resulted in her landing flat on her ass sliding over to the barricade. Sighing she moved to get up when a chain fell around her throat and pulled her up.

Blackness was swimming before her eyes when the man got hit from behind by Angel. Angel, who was in full game face, pelted the scared man with punches and kicks, avoiding most of his. The scared man tuned when he heard Buffy shout "DUCK!"

Angel ducked instantly, trusting Buffy. Unfortunately so did the man. Buffy, who had wanted to hit the man with a flying kick skate, went sailing over both of their heads and crashed into the wall. She slid down the wall, out for the count. The man pulled out a foot long blade from his boot.

"The slayer is the mark. You however have a capture bonus on your head." His voice was high and squeaky "Surrender and I will consider killing your girl quickly before she wakes up"

This sent Angel into a rage. He delivered several hard punches to the mans face followed up by two strong kicks to his knees. Following up with a strong uppercut Angel knocked the man straight back on to the ice. Growling Angel followed only to be met with a sword to the gut. Laughing at the pain etched on the vampires face, the man got up and stood before him.

"We've had to take out vampires before this. My sword is etched with a rare and very powerful herb that drives most vampires insane with pain. With the older ones and of course the master vampires it takes a little longer but it will happen. You should have taken my offer. Now I will use another poison on your girl here that will take several weeks to die. She will be in more pain even your demon had caused in his life. Now stay here." He walked over to the slayer removing a vial of dark blue liquid from his belt.

As he was bending over Buffy he stiffened, four throwing daggers sticking out of his back. He fell to the ground next to Buffy and a man dress entirely in black with black hair and blue eyes walked out of the doorway. Stopping at Angel he removed the sword and threw a blue powder on Angel's wounds. He stepped over the recovering vampire and bent down to the still lining assassin. Buffy slowly came to and, seeing angel on the ground wounded, rushed to his aid. The blood flowing from his wound had slowed, tinted a pale blue from the powder. Right in front of Buffy's eyes the wound closed. Opening his eyes Angel stared into Buffy's for a moment until she got up to deal with the Man in black. She began to advance on him when he pulled a dagger. Holding it up in a guard position he spoke in a light and pleasant voice.

"Angelus restrain your girlfriend before I have to. You don't want me to put her down. He is of the order and I am only here after his ring."

Turning her head slightly Buffy saw Angel nod his consent and she backed off toward Angel's side. Seeing that he would not be interrupted he dipped down to his knee and removed his daggers from the assassin's back. Next he removed the gold and black ring around the assassin's finger. While he was stripping the assassin Buffy turned to Angel.

"Why did you stop me from attacking him? He couldn't be any worse than the one who attacked us first, right?" She whispered.

"No, hes stronger. His name is Thanatos. Lets wait until we get to the library. If he is here then there is serous trouble brewing." He responded.

Thanatos lifted the head of the still breathing assassin. "Ah, Menos. Never learned that a assassin's best friend is a finely honed knife. No amount of poisons will be able to save you now. Say hello to the others when you see them and remember that this was of your own doing." With that Thanantos slit his throat. As his blood spilled over the floor Thanatos placed the ring in one of his pockets, turned and left the skating rink.

Buffy pulled Angel, who was still shaky from the effects of the poison, to his feet. "Lets get you to the library so that you can explain what just happened." She supported him as they both left, leaving the assassin's corpse lying behind.

Meanwhile at the library....

Xander sat in Giles's office looking at a book lying on the desk. He was getting a little frustrated at the damn thing. He had been trying to get this spell to work ever since school let out over an hour ago and the damn book just sat there. It hadn't so much as quivered once. He got up and threw the book onto the floor.

'Alright, lets not lose our heads. Xander lets try this a different way,' Xantos thought 'I want to try and look deep inside yourself, just as if you were meditating. Find your power source at the center of your being.'

Taking a deep calming breath Xander closed his eyes and looked inside himself. He was in a pitch black area floating. Slowly a green light appeared below him. He recognized it as his power source. Moving towards it Xantos's thought came to him.

'Alright, now I want you to take a small portion, no more than a small drop, and hold it in your hand. You shall feel the power of the energy but you must control it. DO NOT let it control you! Once you do this I will have further instructions for you.'

Xander nodded, doing as he was taught, used his mind to draw the smallest portion of the power and bring it to him. Holding it in his hand he felt the power surge against the limitations placed on it by him. It took slightly longer then a minute before Xander felt he was fully in control of the power and it was timidly waiting for his command.

'Good, now open your eyes and keep a hold of the power in the back of your mind. Doing this will cause you a small amount of pain but you must maintain control. In time this will become second nature to you and you will become numb to the pain it causes you. Once your eyes are open I want you to recite the spell once again. The words will tell your power what you want it to do. The instructions can be chanted in any language but it is best if spoken in a less commonly used language." Xantos thought.

"Why is that? I always wanted to know why spellcasters had to use Latin."Xander asked.

'Most spellcasters don't want their targets to know what spell they are casting. By using a language that others don't know you will surprise them with your spell. All the spells you will learn you will be casting in dragonic so there shouldn't be anyone who can understand you.'

Nodding Xander opened his eyes, keeping the power in check. The power surged once again, feeling that a chance to surge free was once more in reach. It took Xander a few moments to suppress the power. He lost his connection to it a couple of times and had to go back into himself to reconnect. He gained control of his power and was able to chant the words of the spell. Three things happened almost at the same time. The first was that the pressure his power was placing on his mind, as well as the pain it caused, lessoned. His hand began to glow with a bright green aura and the book slowly rose up into the air.

Xander stood in surprise. He caught the book in the air. 'I did it!' he thought 'I cast my first spell!'

'Indeed,' came Xantos's amused thought 'Now the spell will last a few minutes so I want you to practice your control over the spell. Move other items around and gain experience. The Mage's hand spell is a most useful cantrap that most mages use to make their life in their library easier. Go, practice.'

Xander smiled and rushed out into the main room of the library to show off a little. Giles, Willow, and Cordelia were researching the crypt that a vampire had stolen something from last night.

Smiling Xander told the room. "I did it! Look!" Xander hovered a notebook above the table.

"Thats very good Xander. Will your hand always glow like that when you use your magic?" Giles asked

Xander relayed Xantos's answer as he received it. "Since we were only using low level cantraps right now yes. In time I will be able to suppress the physical manifestation of my power if I so choose to. Until then it will always be present when I use my magic."

"I believe I understand, now would you like to assist us in researching the item that was stolen last night?"

"Right, lets get busy." He poured himself into the chair in between Willow and Cordy.

He grabbed a book off the pile in the middle of the table and had just cracked it open when the doors to the library opened to admit Buffy and Angel.

"Giles we have a problem. We were at the skating rink and we were attacked. Angel recognized the attacker but wouldn't tell me about it until we got here." Buffy crossed her arms and looked at Angel expectedly.

"We were attacked by a assassin belonging to the Order of Turaka." Angel told the room

"Dear lord, perhaps we should..." Giles started

"Wait Giles, theres more. Someone attacked and killed the assassin. Angel knew him as well." Buffy interrupted.

Angel sighed. "The assassin had poisoned me and was going to poison Buffy as well when the assassin was attacked by a man known as Thanatos."

"Thanatos? I believe I have heard of him," Giles grabbed a book off the shelf and popped it open. "Yes, Thanatos. One of three brothers named Eleos, Thanatos, and Gnosi. Translated their names mean Mercy, Death and Knowledge. Little is known of the brothers except that they are humans that somehow extended their life. Thanatos is known for his skill with thrown weapons and was rumored to be a high ranking member of the order of Turaka. This rumor has been discredited due to the fact that he has been seen actively hunting members of the order. They only time he has been known to leave off his hunt is once a year when he and his brothers meet. The book's dating places him and his brothers at a known three hundred years old and points out that they may indeed be much older."

"The only question left is what he is doing in Sunneydale, you know other than saving Buffy's ass." Xander asked

"If the order has indeed been hired to kill Buffy or Angel...."

"Buffy is their target with a capture clause on my head." Angel broke in.

"Very well, since they have been hired to kill Buffy he is most likely here only to kill more assassins. Unless he attacks one of us I would suggest you leave him alone Buffy. Now from our research we have discovered that the item stolen from the crypt was the cross....."

Unseen by the room Thanatos stood behind one of the bookshelves. He was glad now that he had followed Angelus and his girl. He was even more glad that he had stepped in and killed Menos when he did. This slayer seemed to have slipped the yolk that the watchers tried to place on every slayer. It happened from time to time over the ages. He wondered why they didn't simply 'recycle' this one as they had in the past. He quietly moved away from the shelves creeping out the back door. Moving across the yard in front of the school towards his car, he missed a shadow coming up from behind him. The person delivered a kick to the back of Thanatos's knees that brought him to his knees. Even surprised Thanatos broke his fall turning it into a toll to his feet. Turning two knives appeared in his hands faster then most people could see.

He took a look at his attacker. Though still in the shadows he could make out a few details. She was beautiful, about 5 foot and she held a stake in one hand. Flipping his hand, he sent one of his daggers into her stake sending it flying away from her and into the darkness. They traded blows back and forth, exchanging punches and kicks. After a few moments they came apart to catch their breath.

"Your pretty good, I do not see the ring of the Order on your hand so do you mind if I ask who you are and why you attacked me?" he asked her

"It tis my destiny to kill all unnatural demons. I am Kendra, de vampire slayer." She responded.

Warren's Room

Doom was reviewing Dr. Walsh's file. He had to know what made her believe it would be possible to study, let alone capture, the number of demons she had said she wanted brought in per week. Their cell design, while primitive by his standards, was impressive. Maybe he would be able to help improve them as a side project. The sheer number of demons Dr. Walsh wanted back was still impossible to do unless the capture teams suffered a severe fatality rate. If she didn't care about her soldiers fate however, suddenly the numbers looked more dead on but he doubted that whoever they assigned to be the commanding officer of the facility would place his men in such danger just to maintain a capture rate.

Warren's presence was once again pounding at the back of his head demanding his body back. Curse the boy! If not for him I would be so much closer. As it was Doom had only completed his shell, his armor, his spy flies, the fabricators and of course his EVA. He would have been able to complete so much more if only he had his own body. His shell needed a living host to recharge the magic keeping him here though so he was stuck with Warren for now. He made a mental note to make upgrading the shell his next project so that he may escape Warren's grasp for longer periods of time. If he did not need the boy's physical body to recharge the energies the spell required, then he would have left him long ago. Writing down the names of seven demons Doom left a note for Warren to go to the demon bar to discover if any of them lived in the area. With the blood from these demons he might just break free of his bonds for longer periods of time.

Doom released his control over the body and Warren came back to the front. Grabbing the list he removed the shell and placed it in the converter connected to the computer. After arguing with Doom for a few days the good doctor made him his own pair of lighting gloves to protect himself when he went out on errands for Doom. What Warren wanted was to be allowed to use Doom's armor once again but he wouldn't relent. Warren put his gloves on and stomped up the stairs, it wasn't fair. Once again he had fallen into a position where he had no power whatsoever at all. He hoped he could figure out how to make his own armor before Doom found out a way to detach himself from him permanently. He had already started a independent database of things he had figured out from just watching Doom work. Sighing he left his parents house and left to attend to his errand.

SGC-Sam's Lab

Sam sat at a computer looking over the initial data the M.A.L.P had brought back. Pinching her nose she closed out of the program, she had already went over it a few times and the only way to tell if this planet was the home of the Tok'ra would be to go to the planet tomorrow. She was only going over the data once again was a way to delay going to sleep. Ever since her experience on Halloween she had been having strange dreams. Some of them were quite enjoyable while others featured creatures that could only have been called demons. The latest was about a seven foot robotic demon named Moloch chasing her down the hall while a cute boy with black hair, Xander her dreams told her, was running interference to get him away from her. She had woke up when Moloch's hand closed upon her neck and lifted her a foot into the air.

Sam was about to head to the quarters that the General kept on site just for these instances, when she noticed that her email icon was blinking. Glad to have something else to distract her from her bed she popped it open and began to read it. The body could have been anyone of hundreds of letters she received every month. She was about to file it away for future reference when she noticed the name of the sender. Willow R. Fatigue quickly left her as she started several programs the government would have frowned upon should they know she was using them. The programs were designed to trace the email though cyberspace to find the computer that had sent it. While these programs were running she hacked into the free web based email provider that had been used to send the letter. She was disappointed to find out Willow had used a false address to sign up for the account, unless she lived a 1234 Sesame Street that is.

Her programs cheeped at her alerting her to the fact that they were finished. She was once again disappointed when all they could come up with was that the letter was sent from California. Her methods defeated Sam sent out a reply to Willow's email, including within it a virus that should allow her to locate the sender. Sam printed out a copy of the letter and placed it with a file that she had composed everything that she had been able to gather from her experience on Halloween. Jack would have a shit fit if he found out she was collecting these but she couldn't seem to let it go. Images of teenagers fighting horrible creatures filled her thoughts whenever she thought about quiting. Replacing the file she left her lab for some much needed rest before tomorrow's mission.

Nowhere

Janus sat at a table and chair in the middle of darkness. This realm was aptly named Nowhere. A place where beings from either side of the conflict could meet without danger of violence of breaking out. Not even the three eternals could cause harm here. He still remembered setting up this realm, the last time he and his brothers had ever done something together. He was awaiting the one person that might be able to balance the game or, hopefully, tip the scales in his favor. Best of all this wouldn't break any deals he had made with the other powers as he would not be interfering with the mortal plane.

His thoughts were interrupted when a orange skinned demon with glowing green eyes stepped out of a portal. He sat down at the table and pulled his hood down. Janus nodded and smiled. "Taparrich, my old friend, hows the family?"

"They are well Eternal one. I hear you have some problems of your own." The demon responded.

"Yes, and I would like your help in this manner." Janus told him.

"Very well, my clan dose owe you a great debt. What was it you need?"

Janus smiled, imagining the fit that the others would throw when they found out what he had done. There was no way they would have been able to plan for him to pull this move. He had helped the Mok'tagar eons ago. There was no way they would think that he would call in his marker now after holding it for so long.

"Now my friend, this is what I would like to do..." Janus gave the demon a lopsided grin.


	7. Words are spoken

AN:I own none of the characters portrayed here except Xantos. Joss owns Buffy, Wizards of the coast owns Eberron, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman own the deathgate cycle, and Marvel owns Dr. Doom. I would like to thank all the reviews I have received. I really enjoyed reading them and took some inspiration from them. I hope you enjoy!

Thanatos stared at Kendra in shock for several seconds. 'How could there be two slayers at once?' he thought.

Seven seconds turned out to be four seconds too much. Kendra, seeing the confusion in her opponent, attacked him before he could bring his daggers to bear. Charging Thanatos she grabbed his hands and deftly snapped his wrists. Thanatos head butted Kendra and knocked her back. Watching the slayer recover, he had a VERY hard head, he quickly took stock of the situation. His wrists, and therefore his primary weapons, were out of commission. While he had other weapons he really did not want to kill this young woman. He also had training in several martial arts but not many of them were useful without his hands.

His time to think came to an end and Kendra once again launched herself to her feet. Giving her head a slight shake she once again charged Thanatos. She attacked him with punches and kicks faster than most people could see. Thanatos blocked or dodged most of them keeping his concentration on her moves. He was in a difficult position. If she was truly a slayer then he didn't want to kill her but if he attacked with his power not even the slayer spirit would be able to save her life.

'Well,' he thought ' If my primary option is unable and my secondary weapon is unacceptable then he would just have to try and use his power on himself.'

Taking part of his mind off the fight, and therefore taking more hits from Kendra, he focused his power on his wrists. The skin and bone underneath his gloves and sleeves decayed and rotted rapidly. His flesh began to fall from his bones after a few moments and new skin replaced it. The bone began to regrow and strengthen the moment his skin covered them once again. Just as he felt his bones knit together Kendra managed to land a hard drop kick to his chest which sent him flying into a large oak tree.

Kendra was a tad disappointed. After watching this man kill an Tarakin assassin she had expected much more of a challenge. Pulling a six inch blade from her boot, which had been enchanted to harm both dead and demonic flesh, she moved to Thanatos's downed body. One of the first rules that Mr. Zabuto had drilled into her was that you never take a opponent's death for granted. Slowly bending down she reached out to turn him over in order to remove his head.

Once her hand touched his shoulder he spun and threw a small piece of glass covered in a thick dark substance at her. She jerked her head back but was too slow as the glass hit her in the shoulder. She moved to attack once again but her hands, arms and legs felt as if they weighed a ton each. She slowly slid to the ground as Thanatos stood up. The last sight she saw before the darkness overtook her was Thanatos's sad look.

Rosenberg Residence- After the Scooby meeting

Willow sat at her desk using her computer. Other that her dreams and memories something else had recently began to occur as a result of her choice of Halloween costume. She had been wanting to be able to help Buffy out more with the fighting instead of just helping with the research. The next morning, and every morning thereafter, she had began to get up early in the morning and running though a series of exorcises. At first she had no idea what she was doing until she looked it up on the Internet. What she had started was the first week of a fourteen week program to get someone in shape for the Air Force's physical training. This program was designed to strengthen muscle without build mass and was recommended for any Air Force cadet.

She opened her email and was excited to see that Sam had responded to her email. She quickly opened the email but was disappointed when she saw that the response was just a common 'thank you for your interest' letter with a polite question about how she got interested in the Air Force. The only other out of the ordinary bits of the letter were a few questions about what field she thought she would enter. She also discovered a mean bit of coding at the bottom of the email. Using several tricks that she remembered from Sam, Willow disabled the virus. She had used several tricks that Sam's memories had taught her and had hacked a new back door into the Sunnydale PD. Her old one had been discovered and shut down a small while ago.

She had tried to back track Sam's email but had gotten no further than the fact that it came from NORAD. The base's computer network was a lot more heavily defended then any other network she had ever seen. In addition to that all the computers below level four were kept on isolated severs that only connected to the main server when a inquiry was made to the outside world. Using the tricks that Sam's memories had taught her she would be able to break into the base computer but not without setting off every alarm in the base and she wouldn't be able to stop the back track.

Quickly skimming the rest of her messages she sent a polite reply to Sam requesting further correspondence. Willow turned off her computer and laid down to sleep.

Same Time- Sunnydale Junkyard

'Alright,' Xander thought 'You want to tell me what we are doing out here?'

Xander was in the largest junkyard in Sunnydale. Xander had cleared a large area in the center of the yard at Xanatos's request and had set up a few pieces of scrap metal like targets. Upon learning that Buffy had decided to forgo patrol tonight, Xander had made up his mind to patrol in her stead. What followed his decision was a yelling match between Xander and Xantos that, had it been able to be heard, would have had every person nearby calling the police. After a half hour of argument Xantos caved and offered a compromise to Xander. Xander would go to a location large enough that no one would be able to spot him train and had plenty of objects no one would miss. He planned to teach Xander two more lessons tonight.

'Very well, since you wont listen to reason about patrolling, I have brought you here to learn how to use my power.' Xantos paused for a moment to allow Xander's cheering to die down. 'I am going to teach you to cast fire from the staff. Now hold the staff with the dragon's head toward the target.'

Xander obeyed the dragon and tilted the staff toward the metal he had set up. 'Good, now I want you to focus on our mental link. Using your mind touch my own energy and speak the command word.' Xantos told the word to Xander.

Xander took careful aim and spoke the command. The ruby of the staff glowed bright red and a large ball of flame flew from the staff. The blazing ball of fire impacted the metal and reduced it to a small puddle of goo. Xander dropped the staff as soon as it had fired. The staff had pushed back just as if he had fired a shotgun. He didn't think he had broken anything but his elbow was smarting. Xander was cursing up a storm as he rubbed his arm. Xantos listened to his rambling for several minutes, a mental smile upon his face, he never tired of seeing his bearers kicked back when they first used his orbs of fire. When Xander started to repeat himself Xantos manged to pull his mind back to him.

'Xander, you must remember that, although you are using magic, the natural laws of nature wont allow themselves to be broken so easily. With some spells they break them but with others, such as my orbs of fire, you must take into account the physics of the spell as well as the mechanics of it. Try again and this time brace your arm before you fire.'

Xander picked up the staff gingerly. He took aim once again and fired once more. It impacted another piece of metal with much the same results. Having braced himself more carefully this time Xander did not suffer any damage. He fired off several more orbs just to get the hang of the new weapon before Xantos called practice to a halt.

'Alright, now that you have manged to master the ability to use my fire orbs we will see if you are ready to use the next tier of spells. This spell is much more advanced than the mage's hand spell you had used earlier so do not be discouraged if you cannot make it work. If you were following a more traditional training plan you would not even have attempted to use this spell for a few more months yet but I have to bend the plan due to your stubbornness. This new spell is called burning hands and will cause foot long flames to erupt from your fingertips. This spell will require you to channel much more of your power than you have yet used. Do you want to proceed?'

'Yes, with this kind of firepower I can be a real help to Buffy.'

'Very well then,' Xantos walked Xander though casting burning hands several times until Xander was confident that he could cast the spell without error.

Xander spoke the incantation and used the gestures described to him until his hands ended up with his fingers outspread with his thumbs touching. Upon completing the incantation a foot of flame erupted from each one of his fingers. The flames continued for a few minutes until they cut out. As the flames died Xander felt wave after wave of fatigue wash over him. He had to sit down in order to avoid falling.

'You did that on purpose!' he accused Xantos.

'Of course.' Xantos thought smugly 'You wouldn't listen to reason when I told you that you were not ready to patrol on your own so I used your pride against you. Listen to me, I know you wish to help your friends and I also know how far you are willing to go to protect your friends but you must trust that I know what I am talking about. If you wish to patrol soon then we are forced to up your training program. We will add three more hours a day to your training. When you wake you will meditate to prepare for the day, we will drill you in different situations involving tactics and magic use throughout the day and we will finish the day with a hour of study about whichever subject I deem necessary. We will also need to find time for you to learn how to fight with the quarterstaff. Perhaps Mr. Giles would be willing to instruct you in the use of the staff.'

'Nah, G-man has his hands full training Buffy and I don't want to take time away from his more important work.'

'I believe that Mr. Giles would consider this just as important as training Ms. Summers. However if you do not want to take away from Mr. Giles's time then we will just have to train you in quarterstaff combat while you sleep.' Xantos answered.

'Wait, you want to take up three more hours of the day from me and now you want to take my dreams?' Xander asked.

'All you will need to give up is a week of sleep. Your body just needs to remember what Alexander already knew so after we finish all you will need to do is have a sparring match once or twice a week. In exchange for giving up a week of your dreams, I will teach you a meditative technique that will allow you to dream of whatever you wish. Is this an acceptable compromise?'

With visions of cheerleaders dancing in his head Xander quickly agreed.

'Good. Now might I suggest that you return home and get some rest before you become a midnight snack for a vampire?'

'Fine. Lets go get some sleep.' came Xander's answer. He picked up the staff and made his way out of the junkyard. A few moments after Xander had left the clearing three dark vans pulled into it. Men quickly got out, half wielding trank guns while the others were holding small bags, and spread out amongst the junk. A tall man, six foot with sliver streaked dark brown hair, stepped out of the van.

"Spread out and find the dragon! We detected the use of his magic here and Mr. Travers would dearly like to speak to him." The man yelled.

"Yes, James. We all know the score." One of the men replied.

Unseen by the men a man dressed in a dark cloak sat amongst the junk carefully watching them. He pulled back the hood to reveal the yellow skin of a Mok'tagar demon. 'That had been close,' he thought to himself 'The son of the lord of chaos almost needed his father's gift tonight.'

He pulled out a yellow orb from his pocket and stared into it depths. 'I wonder what this gift will do to the young man? Whatever it dose it dose not concern me. My clan gets to pay back part of the great debt we owe to the lord of chaos and we will gladly pay much more than this for what he did for us.' He replaced the orb in his pocket and caused a blue portal to open up before him. He stepped threw and the portal closed just as two of the men came around the corner.

Sunnydale Library- After the Scooby meeting

Giles placed the last file into his briefcase and left his office only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of Kendra's sleeping form on the table. He dropped the case and rushed to the table. Checking Kendra's pulse he was relieved to find it strong and steady. He was about to run to the phone to call an ambulance when a point of a dagger was pressed just beneath his ear.

"Listen to me Ripper, I saved your slayer earlier today from the order's assassins. I will remove my dagger from you if you promise not to attempt to harm me."

Giles nodded slowly. The dagger came away form his head and he turned. He noted the signs of battle on Thanatos's clothes, the blood, the torn clothing and of course the sweat on his brow. Throwing a glance at Kendra he spotted the same signs on her that were on Thanatos. Giles raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I admit that I fought her," Thanatos answered to Giles unasked question. "Yet she still lives. As Buffy no doubt told you, I am very good with my daggers and could have killed her with a single throw."

Giles conceded the point with a nod. "If the two of you fought then why did you let her live? You are not well known for your mercy."

"You are referring to the watchers I have killed? I show no mercy to those who don't deserve it. Soon after we had started fighting she told me she was a slayer." Thanatos responded.

"Thats impossible!" Giles nearly shouted "Buffy is the current slayer and she is alive."

"Yes I know. That is why I brought her here to you. She managed to back me into a corner and forced me to use my poison. She dose need further training though, the last Slayer that I fought would have never fell for the feint that she did. Now that was a fight!" Thanatos's eyes glazed over with the memory.

"What poison did you use against her?" Giles retrieved a first aid kit from behind the counter and began applying bandages to the sleeping slayer.

"You would know it as Ousia apo arthro nekros or essence of the dead in English." Answered Thanatos.

"Thats not possible! The essence of the dead is a poison that kills within moments. If you had used it she would have already died."

Thanatos smiled. "I can affect the poisons potency so that it is not as deadly. Normally I would have already reversed the effect of the poison and asked her how two slayers could exist at the same time but she is a true product of the council."

"What do you mean by that?" Giles asked.

"The council trains its slayers to kill anything that they consider not human. I have even heard stories about them sending slayers after humans who stand in their way." he answered.

"Now wait just a moment! The council only had the best interest of the world and the slayer at heart. The would never send her after a human. That would only send her over the edge." retorted Giles.

"Thats why they have the 'recycle' rule. Once a slayer goes over the edge they will 'recycle' her allowing the next in line to be called. The watchers you read that I killed were some of the worst examples of human beings I have ever seen. Enough of this though, I don't have time to argue with you over this. Will you contact the council and find out how two slayers could be called at the same time?" He asked the watcher.

"Why should I tell you even If I do?" The English watcher asked.

"How about you and I make a deal? You find out how two slayers were called and share the information with me and I will share with you the story of my origin. Do we have a deal?" Offered Thanatos.

Giles thought about it for a moment. The council had been researching this figure for years trying to find out who or what he was. He could put this topic to rest once and for all in exchange for a piece of information that would do the stranger little good in the long run. "Very well, but I will be sharing this information with the watcher's council."

"If you must. If anyone of my family come to harm over this however, your council will cease to exist in very short order. Is this understood?" Thanatos told Giles.

"Very well. Just let me contact them." Giles picked up the phone on the counter. After fifteen minutes Giles got a hold of Travers. It took another fifteen minutes before the stuffy leader of the council told Giles what he wanted to know and Giles let him go. "It seems that the council is as mystified by Kendra's calling as we are. They could only tell me that she was called late last year...." Giles trailed off.

"I can tell you have a theory about that. What do you know?" Thanatos said in response to the look on Giles's face.

"Well I think I may have solved the mystery. Late last year Buffy defeated a very old and very powerful vampire known as The Master." Giles started

"The Master? It is good to know he is dead." Thanatos interrupted.

"You knew him?" Giles was surprised.

"Yes, we met about two hundred years ago when he was hunting a slayer by the name of Tia. I have always had a weak spot for slayers so, as I was in the area, I stepped in and discovered The Master's weakness was a wooden knife in the gut. I would have gotten him in the heart except Tia's watcher interrupted me and made me miss. He insisted that it was Tia's job to kill him and that I was not to interfere. That was the third watcher I had killed. I found out later he would purposely hurt, injured and otherwise harmed Tia so that she would get used to pain. He died a little too quickly for me so I brought his soul back and have been making him pay ever since." Thanatos answered.

"You still have his soul? Why would you do something like that?"

"Anyone, I don't care who it is, that hurts someone who spends their lives helping others deserves a very long and painful existence. Now, on with your theory please Ripper." Thanatos looked at him expectantly.

"How do you know that name? I do not believe that we have met when I was younger. Tell me!" Demanded Giles

"I will reveal all once you tell me your theory and hold up your end of the bargain." Came Thanatos answer.

Grinding his teeth in frustration Giles took a few moments to calm down before answering. "Very well. Before Buffy was able to kill The Master he drowned her. A friend of hers revived her using CPR. I believe thats when Kendra was called."

Thanatos nodded. "That sounds like a well thought out theory to me Ripper."

"Will you stop calling me that name? Its a part of the past I wish to forget." Giles was quickly losing what calm he had attained.

"Your past is part of the person you are today Mr. Giles." The only response to Giles's rising temper from Thanatos was to move his hand into his cloak. "I will answer your last question first Mr. Giles. I know you are Ripper because, well, do you remember a young man named Nathanial?"

"Yes, I met him shortly Randell died and I...." Giles trailed off.

"Was attempting to take your life to try and ease your sense of guilt. I was aware of Eyghon's presence on our plane of existence but before I could track down the summoners Randell was already dead. I looked into each of you and decided that the summoners, with the exception of Rayne, deserved another chance to make amends. I sent Nathanial to speak with you because I knew he would have been able to talk some sense into you. He was able to turn you away from your path, it was unfortunate that you turned back to the watchers but I guess that is better then a dark mage."

"You...you were the friend that Nathanial spoke so highly of?" he asked

"More than just a friend. I am his father. I raised him from a small boy to the man he is today. If you would take a seat I will uphold my end of our bargain." Both he and Giles sat down.

Giles glanced at Kendra. "Will she be alright?"

"Yes, unless she is left like that for more than a week she will just sleep until I reverse the poison. Now once I begin I do not want you to interrupt. I have only told this story twice in about eight hundred years and I am trusting you with it. My story begins long, long, long ago. A member of a species of demigods had unintentionally cursed me with immortality. I couldn't die and I couldn't kill. He brought me to a place of great magic called the Seventh Gate. Once I had entered the spell keeping me alive was broken but as a price of its being broke a portal opened up and swallowed me. The energy tore and ripped into me. I thought I was going to be tore into bits. The pain, you couldn't imagine pain like this. Just when I thought the pain would drive me insane the portal threw me out.

\My vision swam, I could barely more let alone stand. I collapsed and lay on the ground alone for what felt like days until she came. Her name was Morgan and I was on the isle of Eire. She nursed me back to health over the course of many months. After I felt better Morgan explained to me how she had found me. She was the last of the order of druids, the guardian of justice to be exact, and she was looking for more people to take up the mantle of the old druids. She trained me, molded me and helped me come to grips with my own past. When she thought I was ready she took me the the ancient meeting grounds of the druid order.

I laid my hands upon the center stone there. Nature itself judged me and gave me the job of protecting the natural law of death. From that point forth I took the name of Thanatos. As death I was granted many powers to aid in my duty, one of which is power over poisons and other means of delivering death. The essence of death is made from the blood of those who deny death, vampires and the like, mine is made from my own blood to enhance its ability to heights others could only dream of.

Now the age old battle I have with watchers is this, most watchers see their slayer as a tool rather than a person who has given her life up to protect others. The watchers I have killed have been ones that abuse their slayer. Look up the case on Tia if the council has not buried it. It was in the 1700's when I first met her."

"Well that answers a great many of my questions." Giles polished his glasses. "But why don't you work with the council? You both would like to destroy vampires and their ilk."

"The council has long ago ceased caring about destroying the undead. The only thing they want now is power. Wither that power is political, magical or physical is irrelevant. By keeping the slayer completely under their thumb they are able to gain almost anything they want. Ironically their slave, the slayer, is the very key to their power. Without her they gain nothing."

"Now see here! The council exists just to see to the well being of the slayer. They have watchers posted throughout the world training the next generation of slayers." Giles protested.

Thanatos stood up and pointed at Kendra's sleeping form. "She was trained by Sam Zabuto, a very well respected and model member of the council yet she attacked me without a seconds hesitation. I appear to be completely human and know from a fact that I do not appear on a slayer's special radar. The only out of the ordinary skill I showed was my skill with my daggers. Furthermore the only time she could have seen me use my daggers was at the skating rink where I killed a member of a assassin order and saved his targets. Does that seem like a valid reason to attack someone to you?"

"Kendra is still just human. She may have made a mistake..." Giles started

"A mistake? If I did not have abilities that most humans do not I would be a headless corpse right now." Thanatos interrupted. He took a deep breath and continued "Forgive me, I should not have started this argument. Right now you believe in the council and nothing I will say can convince you otherwise. I must be leaving now but I will leave you with a little piece of advice."

Thanatos stood up and placed his hand on Giles's shoulder. "Remember this, our past makes up who we are today. In your time as Ripper you had demons fleeing the towns you happened to live in at the time. The skills you learned then are not evil in of themselves. They are just skills that you can use for the greater good. Remember this....Ripper." With those parting words he swept out of the library. Giles got up to follow him but stopped when Kendra let out a moan. Turning he turned on his teapot then went to clam down an confused slayer.


	8. The fight

A/N: This chapter did not want to be written! I had to start over two times and then had to deal with my computer crashing. I will try to update more often now that I have regular access to a computer! Once again I would like to thank those of you who reviewed. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy the vampire slayer or Dr. Doom. The elements in this story are intended for entertainment purposes only!

Angel sat on top of a crypt watching a struggle below him. There were four creatures that resembled vampires feeding on a woman below. He had arrived just in time to watch them capture her and before he could do anything they had started to feast. These creatures had several very different abilities then most vampires. The largest difference between the two was that these vampires had worked together to both capture and feed on their prey. Even now one was guarding the others while they fed and in a few minutes they switched guards. Looking at the graveyard Angel could spot empty places where tombstones once stood and, with a little more examination, he spotted the markers on the other side of the graveyard.

Angel had lived for quite a long time and had worked with some of the most dangerous types of demons in existence but had never seen or even heard of anything like these. Angel was preparing himself to jump in and, hopefully, take out the four while they were feeding when the leader looked up. His eyes seemed to peel back the shadows Angel was hiding in with no problem. The leader smiled at the souled vampire.

"Looking for a meal, vampire? Look somewhere else. This meal belongs to the Vampyres!" he told Angel.

The four of them laughed. They gathered up the girl's body and walked away, still laughing. The hair on the back of Angel's neck stood on end as he ground his teeth. Backing away from a fight went against his grain but getting information to Buffy and Giles was more important now then fighting. Perhaps they could find some sort of information regarding these 'Vampyres' in the books. Nodding to himself he stood up and watched them go. Once he could no longer see them he leaped off the crypt and made his way toward the high school. He was getting close to the entrance when he caught the sent of something strange. Turning he spotted a man dressed in a cheap suit. Before he could inquire as to what the man was doing in the cemetery at night, the man slugged Angel hard. Angel reeled back but quickly recovered, game face on. He threw a punch at the man but was surprised when he broke apart into a thousand bugs.

Angel looked around in shock while the bugs scattered in different directions. Angel didn't waste even a moment afterward. He took off toward the high school at high speed. He was passing a rather large tombstone when he caught the scent once more. He spun, only to get hit in the face with a shovel. He hit the ground hard and lay still, unconscious claiming him. The bug assassin stepped up to Angel's still form and dropped the shovel next to him. Bending down he quickly, but effectively, bound Angel hand and foot. He picked up the sleeping vampire and took him over to a manhole. He kicked the manhole cover and sent it flying. Looking around, making sure he wasn't being watched, he tossed the vampire down into the swears and quickly followed him.

Unnoticed by the assassin Thanatos had watched the whole scene from the shadows. After the assassin entered the swears he followed him only to lose him in the tunnels.

'Well, if I can't follow him I guess I need to visit the local bar. They always have the best information for sale.' he thought. He headed off to Willie's place.

Somewhere in Sunnydale at night......

Xander stood panting at the end of a alley. Behind him was a scared five year old little girl while in front of him were six vampires. He had come upon they while they were chasing the little girl and, being who he was, he stupidly jumped into the fight without a second thought or a plan. Now he wound up at the end of a blind alley, with the vamps closing in on him and with only three spells that Xanatos had given him left. Xander mentally ran down his remaining spells while trying to figure out a way to use them. He had burning hands, mage's hand and tenser's floating disc, a spell which would allow him to create a disc made out of energy that would allow him to float any object or person, other than himself.

His time to asses the situation came to a end when three of the vamps were pushed into charging him. Almost without a second thought his hands came up and foot long tendrils of flame poured out of his fingers, setting the three ablaze. They fell, forming a flaming barrier between the remaining vampires and their prey. Xander took full advantage of the distraction to cast his disc and float the little girl up to the rooftops where she took off, hopefully to safety. He turned his attention back to the threat at hand just as the burning vampires dusted. He put on a brave face and did exactly what he thought Buffy would do in such a instance, he taunted them.

"Well, I guess they had bad heart burn. How about you guys? Do you feel the heat?" Xander asked him.

The remaining vampires, weary after seeing Xander deal with their friends, split up. Each one took a separate angle, to avoid getting hit in one attack, and surrounded him. Xander spun, trying to keep each vampire in sight. He cursed at himself for having lost Xantos. If he had his staff he might have been able to put up more of a defense then he was at this time. He used his mage's hand spell to bring his dropped stake to his hand as the first vampire attacked. He was able to dust him but, unfortunately, they other two vampires chose to charge him at the same time as the first. Xander put up a strong but ineffective defense before he was overwhelmed. The last sight he saw as his vision grew dark was the grinning faces of the two vampires.......

…..And Xander leaped to his feet sending his desk into the chair in front of him. All around him kids were applauding him, math was no ones favorite subject and he had, once again, manged to disrupt the lesson. As his heart rate began to drop he realized he was in class and he remembered. Xanatos was putting him though mental scenarios to test him and he had overreacted once more. The teacher was looking at him, very irritated. Xander gave her a sheepish smile as he set his desk upright.

"Mr. Harris, if you can't keep yourself in your seat then I will have to send you to the Principle's office." She said

"Whoa, no need for the cruel and unusual punishment. I'll be good." Xander promised, settling back into his seat.

As the teacher turned back to the chalkboard Xander's thoughts turned inward. 'Alright, I get that these things are taking place inside my mind but do they have to be so realistic?'

'They are drawing from your memories.' came Xanatos's reply 'Every sensation you feel. From the pavement to the wind on your face, is drawn from your mind. If it were any less real then how could you train? How would you know where you needed to improve and where your strengths lie? Would you rather do it in a real situation?'

'No thank you. I have yet to survive one of these missions. Has Buffy showed up yet?' Xander replied.

'I have not seen Ms. Summers. From what I have heard from you and Willow is any indication, then I would say that she has not came to school today.' the dragon replied.

'Damn! I hope shes OK.' Xander stated.

'Don't jump to conclusions, Xander. She could have just took yours and Angel's advise and decided to keep a low profile for a little while.'

'I don't think so. Buffy is more of a take charge person then a hide-a-way person. She wouldn't hide from a enemy she would hunt them out.' Xander yelled in the dragon's ear.

Xantos was spared an answer by the bell ringing. Xander was up out of his seat and moving down the hall before the bell stopped ringing. He blew right past Johnathan, who was trying to get Xander's attention, and marched straight toward the library. He didn't even notice Giles speaking to Jenny as he blew past them. Johnathan, a hurt expression on his face, walked over to the two teachers.

Xander entered the library expecting to see Giles but was disappointed when he found it empty. He rushed over to the phone and quickly dialed Buffy's phone.

Meanwhile out in the hall Johnathan approached Giles.

"Mr. Giles? May I speak with you for a moment?" He asked.

"Of course, Johnathan, what can I do for you?" Giles asked.

"Well, its about what you guys told me about after Halloween."

"Perhaps this is a discussion for a more comfortable location. Jenny may we use your classroom?" Jenny nodded her ascent and they entered the computer lab.

Johnathan took a seat while Giles shut the door and Jenny sat down behind her desk. Johnathan looked a little nervous. The three of them took a few moments to get comfortable before they began.

"Alright, Johnathan, what did you want to speak with me about?" Giles broke the silence.

"Well, after you told me about the things that go bump in the night, I looked at your books on magic and thought that they were interesting. I went to the magic shop in town and asked the owner for some good into to magic books and he pointed out a slandered starters collection. Last night I was reading though them and they had a few beginner spells. I tried a few of them and they worked! There were all these warnings in them though that scared me a little so I thought that I would ask someone who knew a little more about it then I do." he told them.

Back in the library....

Xander was still on the phone waiting for Buffy or Mrs. Summers to answer. While he was on the phone Willow and Cordelia entered and sat down. They were talking about some guy named Oz when Xander slammed the phone back on the hook. "Damn it! I forgot that Mrs. Summers is out of town. Cordy, would you mind driving me over there to see if everything is alright?"

"What, am I the loser taxi all of a sudden?" She replied, getting up.

"Cordy lets just go." Xander followed her out of the library.

Willow was reading a book when Giles, Jenny and Johnathan entered the room. "...And if you are careful in your studies you will learn something more about how this universe is built."Giles finished.

"If you have any problems regarding your magic either come to me or Giles. Don't try and experiment on your own. Alright?" Jenny chipped in.

Johnathan nodded and took a seat. Willow looked up from her book, Unarmed Military Tactics, surprised to find them in the room.

"Hey guys. You just missed Xander. He bullied Cordelia into driving him over to Buffy's house to check on her." She told them

Giles spotted Kendra in the stacks and groaned to himself. "Everyone this is Kendra. Its a long story but she is a slayer. She was called when the Master drowned Buffy." He told them."Kendra would you please try to find any trace of Buffy or those who placed the price on her head? You might want to start at a bar called Willie's. Its the local demon bar."

Kendra nodded and left the same way she entered. Giles started to hand out books from a stack he had assembled the night before. They were still trying to find out what possible use Spike could have for Du lac's cross. Giles sat at the table and began to read. It didn't take long, however, for Giles's mind to drift back to the conversation he had had with Thanatos. When seen from a outsiders view the council was indeed exactly what Thanatos had said, a power hungry organization. From the inside, however, Giles had met with several people whose sole goal was to research ways to help prolong a Slayer's life, either by granting her better weapons or Intel. At the same time there were several 'traditional' rituals, like the Cruciamentum and the habit of 'recycling' the slayer, that seemed to have no other purpose then to control the Slayer.

These lead, as they always did, back to the point of the skills he had learned when he was a teenager. The major flaw in using said skills was that he needed another power base. He doubted that there was any god out there that would be willing take him on as a patron and he definitely would not turn to demons to power his abilities. That was one of the things that had led to Eyghon in the first place. The others being, of course, their want of a bigger high. He could always draw the power from the earth but he didn't want to be corrupted by the energy of the Hellmouth. His musings were cut short by Buffy barging into the library, 'Dear lord,' Giles thought 'didn't any of these kids know how to enter a library without banging the doors?'

"Giles! Spike has Angel and he is going to kill him to restore Drusilla to full strength! We have to find out everything we can about this ritual" Buffy told those gathered there.

"Wait, how did you find out about this ritual?" Giles asked as he and the others started grabbing books.

Seeing the others already at work to find anything they could about the ritual Buffy grabbed a book and continued. "Well, you see....."

Half an hour later....

Buffy lay sleeping on Angel's bed. She had been here since late last night after jumping at every noise and shadow in her empty house. At first she only meant to sit here until Angel got home from his patrol but then sitting had turned to laying and laying to sleeping. She knew that Angel would wake her up before school so that was one last worry in her mind. A small noise, one that didn't belong in Angel's apartment, brought her fully awake. She spotted a figure standing in the shadows. In a flash she was up and had the figure pinned to the wall with her elbow in his throat. The sleep was still in her eyes so it took a few minutes to clear them. Once she could see clearly she was able to identify the figure as Thanatos, the man who saved her and Angel yesterday. He had never made a hostile move toward her, even as she attacked him, so she slowly backed away but remained on guard.

Thanatos merely straightened his clothes and smiled at the Slayer. He took a moment further to allow Buffy to compose herself. He then spoke.  
"Ms. Summers, It is good to see you once more. I came to inform you that, as of yesterday evening, a vampire you know by the name of Spike has Angelus. He placed a kill order for you as well as a capture order for Angelus with the order." he told the Slayer.

"Spike has Angel?! We need to get to him!" Buffy moved to leave the apartment.

Thanatos stopped her by grabbing her shoulder. "Your a impatient one aren't you? Do you even want to know what Spike wants Angelus for? I went to Willie's bar and did a little digging. You would be surprised at how fast Willy spilled his guts once he learned that I was the Druid of Death."

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "Alright, spill. But hurry."

"Not so fast. I want to know what exactly you did to warrant Spike placing a bounty on your head so large that the inner circle of the order of Turaka were needed to complete the contract."

Buffy looked at the man in anger. She glared at him hoping that he would change his mind but when he merely stood there looking at her she gave in. "I have stopped his every attempt to restore his girlfriend and have kicked his ass every time we have faced each other. I believe thats good enough cause otherwise I have no idea why he called these guys."

Thanatos nodded to himself. This, combined with the fact that Spike now held a sizable fortune, would probably be enough to call a bounty on the Slayer's head. "Alright. Spike intends to use Angelus to perform a ritual to restore Drusilla to her full health. I am unsure what kind of ritual it is but I am sure Mr. Giles would be able to find out without too much trouble."

Buffy nodded and rushed out the door to try and save Angel. Thanatos just shook his head and slowly followed.

Meanwhile at Buffy's house.......

Xander and Cordy had reached Buffy's home shortly after they had left the library. Upon entering the house they split up, Xander heading up to the second floor while Cordy was checking out the ground floor. Shortly after they had entered Cordy answered the door to reveal a door to door salesman. After finding out that he was a cosmetics salesman Cordy got excited and started to look through his free samples. As she was prattling on about how she was both a summer and a winter woman Cordy spotted a bug scamper from the bottom of his sleeve into the top. Cordy was getting a little freaked when Xander came downstairs.

"Hes a salesman and he was just leaving." Cordy told Xander, backing up behind him at the same time.

Xander reached out to grab the man's shoulder. "Alright Mary-Kay lets....."

Xander trailed off as he spotted a bug shoot out of the man's ear and enter his nose. Xander and Cordy freaked, screaming they ran for the basement. They made it just ahead of the assassin and slammed the door in his face. They slumped in relief until Cordy pointed out the bugs coming underneath the door. Xander grabbed a roll of duct tape from the hooks on the wall, quickly taping up the crack under the door.

At the same time at Willie's place....

Thanatos entered the door. Willie, seeing the druid enter the bar, groaned silently to himself. As if the Slayer wasn't bad enough now he had to deal with the man who was charged with enforcing the natural law of death. Half his clients would show up on this man's list of targets. Thanatos walked up to the bar, ignoring the demons who were slinking out the entrance behind him.

Leaning against the bar Thanatos looked at Willy and smiled. "I'm here for information on the assassins that are in town."

"Hey, hey I don't know anything about that!" Willy answered

"Oh you don't do you? I am sure your clients keep track of WHICH assassins are in town at the moment. Ill just take that information for now and their locations too, of course. Otherwise I might just decide to show up during happy hour again and kill most of your clients. Whats it going to be?"

Willy sighed. Last time he had tried to barter with this man he had killed half of his best paying customers. "Fine, there were two of them that I have been told about. One was a blond human female and the other was a bug man. The bug man was last sighted by the Slayer's house and the blond seems to be staying close to Spike. Alright?"

"Alright, thats the who, now for the where. I know that Spike requires a church to perform this ritual of his, which one is he using?"

"I can't tell you that! If I did he would kill me!" Willy protested.

"If you don't then I will do more than kill you. I will let the demon residents of Sunnydale know that I will kill any demon I see consorting with you. That will mean that you get no more money, no more tips and, above all, they will know you are the one responsible for it all. Now what do you say?" Thanatos smiled at the bartender.

"Alright, alright. Here." He wrote a address down on a business card and handed it over. "If he finds out though, I never gave you that."

Thanatos's eyes bore into Willy's. They stood this way for several minutes until Thanatos nodded and walked away. "If I find that you lied to me I will be back and not just for your patrons."

Once outside Thanatos got on a motorcycle he had 'acquired' from a vampire and took off toward Buffy's house. A few minutes, and several demolished traffic laws later, Thanatos arrived to find the front door wide open.

Inside Buffy's house.....

Xander was pacing back and forth across the floor of the basement. He was mentally yelling at himself for leaving the library in such a hurry that he forgot Xantos. He could make out a feint whisper, just barely, from Xantos but it was not enough to pull any power from the staff that he could use. He went over the three spells that he knew, for the tenth time in five minutes, and swore to himself that if he got out of this he would make sure that next time he had a lot more spells to call upon.

As he was pacing Cordy was getting more and more upset each minute. She had at last came to the end of her wits. "Hey, loser. Why don't you just wave your hand and make the bug man vanish?"

Xander snapped out of his thoughts. "Gee, let me think. I only know three spells right now and I really don't feel like setting Buffy's house on fire."

"Whats your plan? Just sit here and die?" she responded

"I have a plan. We wait Buffy saves us." he told her.

"Your such a loser!" She got up and yelled at him face to face "All your plans are are wait for Buffy! Can you do anything but wait?"

"I hate you!" He yelled at her.

"I hate you!" She yelled at him. Without warning the two came together in a passionate kiss.

As this was happening Thanatos blew into the house. Closing one eye he was able to use his skills to detect two life forms in the basement. There were also several dozen smaller life forms present, most likely insects. He ran toward the basement door when thousands of maggots fell onto him from the roof. Acting quickly, having already researched the method of killing every assassin in the order's inner ring, Thanatos started to smash maggots. The assassin, feeling that he was being killed, started to come together. Thanatos caught one of the maggots before it could join the man's form.

Once the assassin was enjoined with his others he stood in front of Thanatos. Smiling slightly he spoke to Thanatos. "Well, well, well, Thanatos. Still after vengeance? She died a long time ago and no matter how many of us you kill she is not coming back. Thats why we deal in death. There is no way you are going to be able to kill Mentas anyway. Let it go."

Thanatos saw nothing but red. "Don't you dare speak of her! You, Cassandra and Mentas are they only ones left that I need to kill. You are not going to leave this town alive, mark my word."

The assassin attacked as soon as Thanatos finished speaking. He threw a hard right fist into the druid's face and knocked him over. Not waiting for him to recover the assassin blew past him and out the door. Thanatos ran after the fleeing assassin but was too late, he was gone. He turned and punched the tree in anger. He remembered the two lives in the basement and turned back to the house.

Back in the basement the two teenagers pulled apart and looked at each other in surprise. After a few minutes of staring at each other Cordy spoke. "We need to get out of here."

Nodding his consent the two turned as one and climbed the stairs. Before they could start opening the door Thanatos opened the door. Staring at the two of them he stood to the side of the door.

"I have....dealt with the assassin. You are free to leave at your convenience. Give this to Mr. Giles. It has the address to the church where Spike will be performing the ritual." He handed them a card and turned, leaving though the back door. Cordy and Xander left the house and got into Cordy's car.

Back at the library.....

Giles had introduced Buffy to Kendra and they had went into his office to talk. Things were going pretty well so far, he only had had to break up one fight between the two of them and since then they had been pretty quiet. Jenny, Willow and he had been trying to find anything they could regarding the ritual Thanatos had told Buffy about. They only thing he had to track down the ritual was the fact that it must have something to do with both the cross and the book that was stolen from him.

As Giles was reaching for yet another book Willow let out an excited "Ah ha!"

She handed over the book. Giles read the passage that Willow indicated. It was indeed about the ritual. While the complete details of the ritual were only written in the book that was stolen, this book did tell several of the necessary requirements. Spike was going to need Drusilla's sire, which they already had, a church to perform the ritual in and the exact time that they needed to perform the ritual. Other then that there was no other details. As he was reading the entry in the book Buffy and Kendra came out of the office. Giles cleared his throat and stood up.

"Well, from what Willow has found it appears the ritual requires the vampire's sire, a church to perform the ritual and it needs to be done in less than an hour. I would think that Spike would use a shut down church. According to the map of the city we have seventeen run down churches in town limits. We have a half hour to find out which church he is going to use."

"A half hour Giles? Theres no way we can check seventeen churches in a hour. Is there anyway we can shorten the list?" Buffy asked..

Xander and Cordy walked into the library. "I may be able to help ya with that Buffster. A friend of ours left me with this card after scaring off an assassin from your house." He handed over the card.

Buffy took the card, her thoughts running a mile a minute. This could have all just been a way to lure them into a trap. Giles did say that each assassin operated in different ways and with different methods. "Giles, how much do you trust this man?"

"Given his history I believe he would offer nothing but help to you. If I were involved, however , I wouldn't bet on it. He has never killed a Slayer when given a choice but he has killed several Watchers. I think he can be trusted in this instance Buffy. Do we have a choice?"

"Alright, everyone get a weapon. We go, we save Angel." Buffy moved to the cage.

"Angel? Shouldn't our primary mission be to stop Drusilla at all costs? Angel is just another vampire." Kendra chipped in.

Buffy moved in to yell at her sister slayer but was beat to it, surprisingly, by Xander. Xander, staff in hand, faced the slayer. "Listen, Angel is one of us. If it was me or you that had been captured then he would be right there, fighting to save us. I owe him my life so I will do no less, even if I don't like him."

The situation would have escalated from there had Giles not stepped in. "Alright, we have more then enough people to ensure that Angel is saved and Drusilla is killed. Lets go."

Kendra followed Giles while the rest took a few minutes to stare at Xander in surprise. He became uncomfortable after a few seconds. "What? I owe Angel a debt that I intend on paying back. Lets go already." The others quickly followed after Xander.

At the church.....

Thanatos slowly creeped around the corner of the front of the church. He had seen Cassandra acting as a guard, in all likelihood hoping to catch the slayer as she came to the rescue. He couldn't allow that. Not only would she fail to kill Buffy but Buffy would have to neutralize her in order to get by. He was not going to allow Cassandra to slip though his fingers once again. He peeked around the corner only to come face to face with the barrel of a Beretta 92FS. He manged to halfway duck before she pulled the trigger so she only managed to graze his shoulder. He grabbed the barrel of the gun and punched her in the chest. She fell back, giving up her handgun and drew another, smaller handgun. She stepped back to fire again but fell to the ground as Thanatos performed a leg sweep.

They both stood up, facing each other. Dropping her hand she drew a survival knife from her hip for each of her hands. Thanatos took the chance to arm himself with a dagger in each hand. They came together in a dance that could have been called beautiful if not for the unavoidable end. Only one of the two would walk away from this fight alive. Sparks flew each time they came together as one parried and one attacked. They circled, looking for a opening, looking for a chance to slide their blade into the other. The fight drew out for five minutes, then ten. After twenty minutes had passed Thanatos charged the woman. She took advantage of the opportunity and impaled both her knives into his gut.

She felt a sharp pain in both shoulders and lost all feeling in her arms from the shoulders on down. She looked down and just now figured out what Thanatos had done. He charged in order to get her to drop her guard so that he may stab her. Both his daggers were sticking out of her shoulders, each one coated with a pale green slime. The knifes in Thanatos body caused his great pain but he was used to it. Unfortunately he could not use his necromantic healing abilities on his torso so he just would have to deal with them the same as anyone else. Cassandra took the chance to turn and run. She only made it a few feet before feeling two more impacts on the back of her legs. The same numbness spread to her legs. She fell to her knees while Thanatos walked around to face her. He pulled the combat knives out of him and threw them to the ground in front of her. He bent down and tore her black shirt and tied off the wounds in his gut.

"You should have been more careful. I have always used poisons and yet you still let me get close to you. These," He pointed to his wounds "are merely a minor inconvenience to me. There is only one way to kill me and I am the only one who knows the method to do that. Now, for your punishment in her death you shall share in her death." He bent down and before she could utter a word he slit her throat. As the blood poured down onto her chest he took her ring, carefully pulling her hand up so she could see him do it with her last bit of life.

He kept eye contact with her until her eyes dimmed and she fell to the ground. He turned to the window that Cassandra had been guarding. Opening it he sent two stakes flying into the hearts of the vampires inside. Grimacing in pain he slowly climbed into the church. He drew himself upright only to be sent flying across the room as the bug assassin backhanded him. As he climbed back up his wounds, which he had managed to stop bleeding, started to bleed once more. A small glass jar inside his inner pocket had shattered letting the bug he had captured loose. The bug assassin looked at him with a small smile on his face.

"Did you know that, unlike other maggots, mine are poisonous?" As he told Thanatos this the small maggot took a bite out of him, loosing the poison though his system. "Now ill take that."

The assassin bent down and picked the bug up. It joined with him once more. "Now that your quest has failed....." His words were interrupted by a racking pain that started at his feet and rose though his body up to his head.

Smiling Thanatos rose. Pulling his bandages tight once more he walked over to the prone assassin. "I know all about your poison. What you didn't know was that I had poisoned your little friend. Once you took him back in you introduced a poison into your system that was designed by me to kill bugs. The only chance you have right now is to split apart and even that will not save you seeing as how ill just kill each and everyone of your maggots. Ill tell Mentas that you sent your love." He watched the bug assassin die in horrible pain and dissolve. Picking up his ring he placed his ring into his pocket.

As Thanatos was finishing up with the bug assassin Buffy and her friends had just arrived at the church. Busting down the door they went into action. Buffy and Kendra headed straight for Spike and Angel while the scoobies took care of the small fry. Xander was using Xantos to great effort staking vampires using the bottom portion of the staff. He had just staked a vampire when he happened to look up, spotting Willow using a super soaker to blind vampires. 'When did she get to be such a good shot?' he thought.

'You retained memories and skills from Halloween why shouldn't she? Didn't she dress as a soldier? Is it such a surprise?' Came Xantos's answer.

Before Xander could answer Xantos Willow was knocked over by three vampires. Before he could even think he found himself stepping forward, dropping his staff and spreading his fingers wide. As he finished chanting foot long flames, projected from his fingers, engulfed the vampires quickly turning them to dust. As the wave of exhaustion hit him Willow got back to her feet and nodded her thanks. She went back to work blinding the vampires she could so Giles and Cordy could kill them.

It took Xander several minutes to recover. He looked up in time to watch Spike set fire to the church and run up to Angel and Drusilla. He pulled her down and ran for the door. Buffy wasn't about to let him go so she picked up a lantern and tossed it at him, hitting him square in the back. She had a look of victory on her face when the organ Spike crashed into collapsed on top of him. She barely spared the collapse a second look though, and rushed up to Angel. Xander, feeling his debt filled, turned and walked out of the building. Waiting outside for the others he was startled by Thanatos's exit. Xander rushed over to the man and caught him just as he collapsed. He brought his head close to the druid in time to hear him mutter something about a vial in his pocket. Xander brought it out and smeared it on the wounds. The wounds closed up slowly, but still faster than normal wounds.

Getting up Thanatos looked at the young man that had just saved his life. "Xander, was it?" Seeing the young mans nod he continued "Thank you. If you hadn't gotten that slime into my wounds I would've died. Can you do me a favor? Tell Mr. Giles that I will be leaving town soon but I will come speak with him once more before I do. Thank you again." Finishing he got onto his motorcycle and left without a second glance backward.


	9. The Calling

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters in this story. Dr. Doom is owned by Marvel, Buffy is owned by Mutant Enemy and Dungeon and Dragons is owned by Wizards of the coast. This is purely for fun and entertainment not for profit. Enjoy!

Xander was facing off against Giles using quarter staffs. Giles had watched him yesterday in the battle at the church and had admitted that he showed some talent for the weapon. He had requested that Xander face off against him this morning as a means to judge his skill and Xantos had agreed, there was only so much he could do to teach Xander in his dreams.

They had begun in the guard position when Giles quickly started the duel. Bringing his staff around from the left Xander barely brought his staff up to block it in time. Giles followed it up with a quick thrust with the end of the staff and Xander couldn't get his staff in position in time. Xander manged to lessen the strength of the hit by taking a quick step backward and Giles fell back as well.

'Remember Xander,' Xantos told the young man ' you may see Mr. Giles as old but he has spent years learning his skills. Don't underestimate him.'

Giles quickly proved the dragon's words correct. Not wasting a moment more he rushed forward, blocking Xander's thrust as he went, and quickly swept Xander's feet out from beneath him and he had the end of his staff at Xander's neck. Holding the young man there for a moment, Giles helped him to his feet afterward.

"Xander, while this is just a practice match, you should treat it as you would a real fight. Where is the heat you used yesterday?" Giles asked.

"I dunno G-man. Yesterday I just got to thinking about how Buffy was being hunted by the assassins, not because she had killed any of them but because someone had paid them to, and it just pissed me off." Xander said. "I just imagined each of the vampires I killed yesterday as a assassin and vented my anger on them."

Giles stared off into the distance for a moment. "I see. Would you be willing to have a sparring match with me everyday after school? It wouldn't last long and it would allow you to become used to the staff."

Xander ran his daily plan though his mind real quick. If the match didn't last too long then he would still be able to get his reading done as well as help Buffy. He could spare fifteen minutes to help his physical training. He told Giles as much before bidding him goodbye and left to meet up with Buffy and Willow.

Private Home, somewhere near Area 51....

Warren was nervous. Two days ago Doom's spy-fly had reported on a plan the NID had to run their own stargate program. They had already promoted him to leader of area 51 and he was setting up the second gate to run his own program, one that would use any and all means in order to acquire the technology they felt they needed in order to defend the world from the Goa'uld. A little hacking had allowed Doom to find the name of the commanding officer of the team Mayborne would be sending though the gate, one Colonel Mark Wallis, and his address. Doom had updated his plans, royally pissing off Mayor Wilkins when he told him he wouldn't be working at the Initiative after all but that he would be leaving the good mayor to his own devices.

In exchange for his promise that he would not come back to town for two years, at least, Mayor Wilkins had given Doom seven amulets that would allow Doom to use spells to complete his mission. Doom made his way to the colonel's home and, using one of the magics stored in the amulet, rendered the good colonel unconscious and used another amulet to take his image for himself. Doom needed to recharge so he left a very nervous Warren waiting for his orders. Warren had already avoided three neighbors who really liked the new homeowner and the mail lady. He knew that the next time he might not be so lucky so he was trying to lay low until Doom was ready to take back over. Warren was good when you put him in charge of non living things, such as computers, but when it came to social interaction he was completely clueless.

Warren felt a surge of fear run threw him when he heard the knock at the door. Luckily Doom was ready. With a bright flash of green in his eyes Doom took over the young boy and answered the door. Mayborne was standing on the other side with his hat underneath his right arm. Without a invitation Mayborne walked into the Colonel's home and shut the door.

"Colonel, I have come to tell you about your first assignment." He told Doom.

"Sir!" Doom answered.

Mayborne looked at him strangely. "Are you alright, colonel? Your acting strange." he asked.

Mentally cursing at himself Doom quickly waved one of his amulets in front of Mayborne's eyes. The amulet glowed and the glow was reflected in Mayborne's eyes. Mayborne felt all suspicion just fall from his mind, which was a unusual thing for him. Looking at the man before him he knew that this was Colonel Mark Willis beyond a shadow of a doubt and nothing anyone, including the man in front of him, said would change his mind.

"Never mind. Your first assignment is to acquire a piece of technology from P3X-970. It is a anti-grav device that will, hopefully, not be too hard to backwards engineer. These," Mayborne handed Doom three folders. "Will be your team for this mission. Use any methods you deem necessary to gain access to the technology. Understood?"

"Yes sir. When is our departure?" Doom asked.

"As soon as you feel you and your team is ready." Came the answer.

"I hope we will be ready to depart as of 0800 tomorrow sir!" That would give him a hour until the real colonel woke up.

"That will be fine Colonel. If you would come with me we will meet your team." Doom followed Mayborne to his car and they drove off.

The next morning....

Doom was in his colonel disguise, standing in a bunker inside area 51. On either side of him were his 'team'. Mayborne was standing next to the Stargate explaining how to work the DHD. The genius of his team, Dr. George Zimmerman, was paying very close attention to the explanation while the other two, Major Zack Williams Major Herman Zenth, had the looks of people who had already heard this story a millions times before. It took Mayborne another five minutes to finish his lecture.

"Alright, you have all been briefed on the mission, you know how to return home and you all have your equipment. I expect to hear back from you in one hour. The DHD will not be connected until then so if you run into trouble dial the secondary gate until the hour has come. Do you understand?" Mayborne asked.

All four of them nodded and Mayborne dialed the gate. With a whirl the outside circle spun. Warren marveled at the appearance of the backwash of the event horizon while Doom merely watched it with a detached interest. Once the event horizon had settled in the gate Doom lead his team into the gate.

Janus's Realm....

The Lord of Chaos sat watching a floating screen above a round purple table. The screen showed a hearing in congress that was closed to the public but not to the gods. 'Politics,' Janus thought to himself 'If there is one thing that gives me more power than Halloween did its politics. Where would I be without them?'

His thoughts were interrupted by a pure white owl flying into his realm and transforming into a beautiful woman in armor. On her shoulder was the owl while at her side was a longsword. She stepped forward into Janus's vision.

"Ah, Athena. So nice of you to respond to my summons so quickly. I have a favor to ask of you." he told her. "Have a seat."

Athena shook her head. "I would rather not, if its all the same to you. What I have to say might just anger you to the point where sitting would prove dangerous."

"What could you possibly say to me that would make me attack one so beautiful as yourself?" Janus looked confused.

"First, what is your favor?" She asked.

"Well, as you know, I have recently been more active on the mortal plane than I have been in centuries." He told her "And among the friends of my son is a man...."

"No more." She interrupted him "Before I hear anymore I think you should hear what I have to ask. What is your plan regarding Victor."

The Chaos Lord reacted as if he had been hit. The table, chair and vision all disappeared as he stood up. Snapping his fingers he did something that he had not done in over seven hundred years. He sealed his realm off from any gods or ascended beings, they could not visit nor hear into his realm. Unfortunately for Athena that also meant that she was locked in with him, no one god could stand against one of the eternals, The first good, The first evil and, of course, the embodiment of chaos, Janus.

There were legends that told of all three of them becoming the embodiment of the force that they enforced. Janus, it was said, was actually the first of the three and was largely responsible for the creation of the universe as we know it. While he was the first to exist he was actually the last to gain any type of sentience, only awaking when the ancient people of the world started to worship the power that chaos represented. His power was here before all of creation and, at least it was said amongst the lesser gods, it would last long after they were all gone. The only certain thing was that his, for lack of a better term, siblings would be the only beings that would survive with him.

All this ran though her mind in the moment it took Janus to cross the room. To her credit, even knowing his power, she didn't back down or show any signs of fear. He stopped a foot from the goddess.

"Who have you told about him?" His smart assed attitude that he was known for was gone and he was abnormally serious.

"I have not told anyone about him. I only kept my eyes on the mortal world and saw him as he went threw through a stargate. The only other one I could think of that would know would be the ascended being who shares your name." She answered.

Janus visibly calmed down. "I will tell you what my plans regarding him are as long as you swear a oath not to reveal a word of it to anyone else, understood?"

"You have my oath as long as it doesn't threaten my interests." She responded.

"No, you must not reveal anything I will tell you even if it means your destruction." He told her.

Athena was a little taken back at the tone of his voice. She considered it for a moment before agreeing.

"Do you remember when the Goa'uld first appeared on Earth?" he asked.

"Yes, the lesser gods tried to stop them from stealing their worshipers at first but they gradually lost power and stopped." She told him.

He shook his head. "That is what Zeus told you is it not? That is what he told you all but it is not the truth. Zeus and the other lesser gods realized that even though the Goa'uld were forcing the people to worship them the gods were still getting the power from said worship."

"Wait, if that is true then how come I never heard about it? Surely one of the other gods would have told me about it."

"No, they refused to tell you and any other god that would care for the humans under their care. They were even more happy when the Goa'uld started to take humans off the planet and forced them to worship them under the name of the gods. The Goa'uld, as much as they love to be worshiped as gods, are not gods so they can not reap the power that the worshipers give off. With entire planets giving them power the lesser gods just sat back and reaped the harvest of power. They received more power then ever and all they had to do was keep certain members of their order in the dark about it. Members who took their responsibilities to heart.'

"Such as me?" She asked.

"You, Demeter and Hestia are the ones from your Pantheon. There are a few from others as well such as they entire Norse Pantheon." he told her.

"Wait, why were the Norse left out? Didn't they have aliens who impersonated them as well?"

"Yes, but Baldr watched them carefully and discovered that the newcomers only wished well to the Norse Vikings. As far as I know they are still watching the small ones and making sure that they only act in the best interest of their charges." Janus answered.

"How is that any different from what the rest of the gods are doing? They are still gathering the power from their worshipers." Athena asked.

"The Norse gods are different from others. For one, while they are immortal, They can be killed. The other major difference is that what power they have is not drawn from worship but from their own knowledge. Much like that of the Alterans they never relied on power from anyone other than themselves. I have tried over the years to get them to try and take their responsibilities back up but none of my plans have panned out. My new plan consists of doing something I have not tried before. I intend on attacking the reason they will not take action, the power the Goa'uld are creating for them, by introducing someone who might have a chance to take on the Goa'uld one on one and win." Janus told her.

"And that is this Victor Von Doom? You took him from a universe that is just a comic book character in this world. How can he possibly compete with them?" Athena asked.

"Have you ever stooped so low as to actually read a comic book with him in it? Once he is ready to make his move the worshipers of the Goa'uld will flock to him and the gods power will fall with them. Now on to my favor..."

"Wait, if what you say is true all my family have been lying to me for centuries. I want to help you get them back for this. I have not read any of the books with Doom in them but a few of my believers are comic book fans," She tilted her head to the side as her eyes glowed "And I just took the knowledge of Doom from them. I see what you mean. I shall grant him the ability to use his mind swap once again with a few changes. Now, as for your favor....."

P3X-070....

Doom looked around at the surroundings of the gate. After the gate shut down Doom nodded, satisfied. This would do very nicely as a stepping stone to P3X-773, the planet he picked out from the database of the SGC. Turning he held up another glowing amulet and waved it in front of the eyes of his three teammates. They fell to the ground instantly, asleep.

Unseen by Doom, or any other mortal who happened to be watching, Athena walked up behind Doom and lay her hand on his shoulder. Doom got a very powerful urge to try and use his mind swap. He fought it for a moment but, as long as Athena held on to him, he found himself unable to resist the urge. He used his mind swap on the 'genius' of his team. As soon as he had swapped minds Athena let his body loose and Doom immediately reversed the exchange.

Once back in his own body Doom was amazed to learn that he still retained all the doctor's knowledge. Everything that he knew was downloaded into the memory banks of Doom's artificial brain. This new revelation caused Doom to change his plans slightly. His original intention had been to pose as a Goa'uld from another system, eager to serve the Goa'uld Nirrit in order to learn all he could about the technology the Goa'uld used. Now, if the same occurred with the Goa'uld, he could merely swap minds briefly with the System lord and learn everything that she knew. Doom headed off in the direction of the settlement that was outlined in the briefing Mayborne had given them.

Earth, One hour later....

Mayborne watched as the gate activated. Holding up a radio he was surprised when three of the team he had sent came tumbling though, gagged and tied up. He was even more surprised when the radio crackled to life as a sealed box came though the gate.

"Harry Mayborne, this is the voice of Doom. I have allowed the members of the team you sent to return to you with the technology you sought as a thank you for helping me leave Earth. You will find the true Colonel tied to a chair inside his home." The radio died as the gate deactivated, leaving a stunned Mayborne standing there.

Sunnydale.....

'Xander the time has come for you to summon a familiar.' The dragon told Xander.

'Really? What kind of familiar will I get?' Xander asked.

The two of them were once again inside the junk yard. Xander had been practicing with the fire orbs he could fire from the staff once more when Xantos had stopped him. His barer had come very far in such a short amount of time that he felt it was time to show him the ritual. His familiar would be with him always, while Xantos would not. He felt the time drawing closer and he would have to once again slumber. Like living dragons, bound dragons went though periods of time in witch they would have to sleep to regain control of their powers. He could feel his time approaching and he wished to make sure young Xander was on the path to truly becoming a great Magus before he slept. Hence the ritual to summon a familiar.

'Every mage's familiar is different.' he told the teen 'Most mages that use the ritual for the first time never know which animal will answer their call. You will not be any different but I will tell you this. Whichever animal answers will share some of the traits of your personality. We must visit the magic shop in order to obtain the materials you will need.'

As Xander was practicing he failed to notice several pairs of eyes watching him. After the teen had left to acquire the materials he would need one of the figures stood up and pulled out a cell phone.

"This is Roger. Put me though to Travers now." Roger yelled into the phone.

After a few moments the phone was answered on the other end. "Roger? Has there been any developments?" Travers asked.

"Yes there bloody well has. The dragon that you have had us hunting for the last few weeks? We just spotted him." Roger told him.

"How big and how powerful?"

"There is no dragon. Its another one of those blasted staffs. It looks like of Rupert's group somehow found one and manged to bind it to himself." Roger answered.

"Bloody hell, how am I going to explain this to the council?"

"I might be able to help you cover it up but it will cost you." As he spoke Roger and the team of seven mages made their way back to the vans waiting them outside the junkyard's gates.

"What? Are you blackmailing me?" Travers almost shouted into the phone.

"It appears so, Quentin. You will find my price to be quite reasonable. My son will graduate from the university next year and I want you to put forth his name as a field watcher to the first available slayer. If you agree to do this I will go to the council and tell them you sent us to deal with a nest of Fyarl demons. That should settle nicely don't you think?"

Roger could practically hear Quentin grinding his teeth on the other end of the line as he thought about it. If there was one thing the head of the watcher's council hated it was being outsmarted.

"Alright, we have a deal. I will place your son's name as a candidate for a slayer as soon as one becomes available. Now get back here as soon as you can." With a click the line went dead. The group drove off, a smiling Roger sitting in the passenger side seat.

A few minutes later at the Magic Shop.......

Xander was browsing while waiting for the owner to retrieve his order. Most of the herbs and regents that Xantos told him he would need were commonplace while several only grew in remote parts of the world. As such the bill would set him back about sixty dollars, about a third he had earned from doing odd jobs for his next door neighbor. He still had about one hundred and twenty dollars left and he planned on using the rest to buy Buffy a birthday present, at least that was the plan until Xantos spotted two items on display.

'Xander, those items! You need to buy that book and the crystal.' the dragon told him

Xander checked the price on each item. A little over one hundred and fifty dollars after tax. 'I can't. If I buy those I wouldn't have enough to buy Buffy's present!' he protested.

'Xander, those items shouldn't be in unsafe hands. They can be very dangerous if you do not know what you are doing with them.' Xantos tried to reason with Xander.

'I need the money. They will still be here later when I come back.' Xander thought back

Xantos sighed mentally. This was going to be draining. 'Is there anything I can say that will change your mind?' he asked.

'Nope, my minds made up.' came the response.

'Fine. I will need you to relax your hand. I am going to use my power but though you.'

Xander watched with shocked eyes as his hand came up, grew scales touched his jacket pocket and reached though the glass without breaking it. As his hand touched the crystal and book they vanished and he felt his jacket get heavier. Touching his pocket he felt both the outline of the very large book, it was at least as big as the vampire book Giles had in the library, and the small form of the crystal. What really surprised him was when his hand withdrew from the display case two exact copies of the book and crystal were sitting in the same spot as the real ones were a moment before. Xander jumped as the saleslady came back and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Here you are sir. Your items as well as your change." Spotting the book and crystal Xander was staring at a moment ago the woman continued. "You were looking at the book? Both it and the crystal were discovered in a small ruin near the great pyramids. I heard that we have a buyer coming out to see them today. Well, have a good day sir." The lady turned and was lost to Xander's sight as she walked behind the counter.

Xander walked out of the store holding his small sack of regents as well as a very expensive book and crystal. Unknown to him the sales lady had just received a phone call informing her that the prices of both the crystal and the book were misprinted and should be seven thousand dollars each instead of seventy. To his credit Xander made it almost all the way home before blowing up at the dragon.

'Alright, you want to explain why you made me into a criminal?' he yelled mentally.

'Xander,' Xantos 'voice' sounded extremely tired 'That book and shard are putting out a vast amount of arcane energy I have never before seen, and I have lived quite a long time if you would remember. The writing on it, under the illusion of the hieroglyphs anyway, is of a language I have never before seen, although it bears some resemblance to Dragonic writing. That is the reason why I couldn't leave it in the hands of a shopkeeper who would sell it to the first person who had enough money.'

Xander milled over the dragon's reasoning in his mind as he finished the walk home. Unfortunately he found he couldn't fault his reasons, hell if Buffy or Willow were in deep enough trouble he wouldn't hesitate to break the law if he thought that it would help. Still it really irritated him that Xantos would do something like that without telling him what he was doing first.

'Alright, I get why you did it but we need to place some ground rules into effect if you can use my body.' Xander finally told Xantos. 'One, you need to explain why and how you are going to use it and two, you must have my permission to do so.'

'I only was able to use your body in the shop without your permission because I caught you by surprise. I cannot use your body without your permission, rest assured.' Came Xantos's reply.

'Good. Now what do I need to do to cast this ritual?' Xander walked into his house.

Doc's House, that night......

The elder demon known as the Doc answered his door to reveal the robed figure of the Master as well as the armored form of Eric. The Doc looked at the two with a smile.

"Come in, come in. I've been waiting for you for a long time." The Doc moved to the little kettle on the stove.

"You were expecting us?" Eric asked.

"Oh my yes." he answered "I was told long ago that 'one would come who has power over the undead.'. The vampire who told me was a looney so I didn't give it any thought until the First told me you would be coming." Pouring himself a cup of tea he sat down and gestured, offering the two of them seats. "The First told me that you were trying to create a new type of vampire?"

The master nodded. "I keep running into the same problem though. If I implant the darkness that fuels Vampyres the demon of the vampires fights it. If I remove the demon first the body is destroyed." The Master's voice came out raspy. "Any time I try to conjure a soul to implant the spell fails. The spell is good, I used it in Ravenloft, but it always seems to fail."

The Doc nodded. "Yes, your coming up against a natural barrier of this plane." The Doc lay his cup down and walked over to a box. "What you need is a orb of Thesulah, a spirit vault for rituals of the undead. I have one here for you as well as the spellbook that contains the spell you requested." Doc brought over a clear orb and a large tomb and handed them to Eric. "They sell those at a shop in town. I wrote down the address in that book. I think that was everything you needed right?"

The Master nodded and got up, motioning to Eric to bring the items and follow him. The Doc followed the two of them to the door and waved. "You two be careful now, alright?"

Same time, Xander's basement......

Xander whistled. 'You really weren't kidding were you?' Xander looked down at the large white circle of sand, twigs and stones lying on the floor. 'And this will really take an entire day?'

'Yes, once you begin you will lose all sense of time until the ritual is complete. That is why I waited until a Friday night to have you use it. Once you complete the ritual your familiar will find its way to you shortly after.' he answered.

'And there is no way to get the familiar I want?' Xander asked.

'No, not the first time you perform the ritual. After you cast it once if you wish to get a different type of familiar you can do the ritual again but I would recommend against that. The only reason you should summon another familiar is if the first dies and even then I would ask you to summon the same type of familiar.' Xantos told him. 'The type of familiar you summon will be uniquely suited to your personality and you will have invested a small portion of your power inside of it. Now begin.'

Xander sat down in the center of the circle and began to chant. His parents upstairs got up to yell at him when a bright green flash stopped them. Standing before them was Janus.

"Anthony, Jessica, leave my son alone. Help and support him and I will restore the link between you and myself, understood?" Janus asked.

Mutely the Harris's nodded. With another bright green flash Janus returned to his home plane. Back downstairs a small, bright green mist began to fill the air and Xander's eyes glowed bright green. Unheard by mortals a silent call went out from the Harris residence.

Magic Shop, Same night.....

The vampire was nervous. The Mayor had sent him with a very large amount of money to this shop to buy two items that he required for his plans but they didn't seem to be genuine. He now had the job of not only cleaning up the mess, he had gotten quite hungry and thought the shopkeeper would make a good meal, but also of telling the Mayor that the book and crystal he sought was fake. Why did these things happen to him? Head pointed downward he headed back to town hall after taking all the money in the till, maybe they would just assume it was a robbery gone wrong? The vampire didn't make it too far, however, before taking a wooden knife to the back. It peirced the vampire's heart though his back and he dusted, leaving the suitcase behind.

Thanatos bent over and picked up the case. He was on his way to speak with Mr. Giles when he came upon the chance to make sure his skills were not adversely affected by his recent wounds. His aim was a little off, he got the heart but the dagger was a little to the left. He would have to work on that. Walking toward Mr. Giles's house, case still in hand, Thanatos started to whistle. This had been a rather good night after all.

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and gave me ideas. I would like to hear ideas about what Xander should have as a familiar. Please review with your ideas and thank you!


	10. Meetings

Giles answered his door and was a little surprised to see Thanatos standing on the other side. Xander had told him to expect him but what was surprising was the two large cases the man carried.

"Rupert, may I come in?" he asked

Being a resident in the know, Giles of course just stepped to the side of his door allowing Thanatos to enter without an invitation. Thanatos took the seat indicated by Giles as the older man got a pot of tea and served two cups.

Sitting down to his own cup Giles spoke. "I have a few follow up questions about your past, the world you came from to be specific."

"Yes, I though you might." Thanatos sighed. "The one thing I both enjoy and despise about conversation with intelligent people is that they always seem to have more questions. Very well, I will tell you all about my world if you will listen to what I have to say with a open mind. Agreed?"

Giles nodded his head, agreeing with he terms as Thanatos continued. "The universe I was from originally had two races of demigods, the Sartan and the Patryn, who had discovered the means to use a powerful form of magic called runes. This magic was, at least in our universe, responsible for the creation of the universe. Because they could perform magic that went unrivaled by any of us lesser races, each race decided they had the right to rule over us."

"Excuse me," Giles interrupted "but what do you mean about 'lesser' races?"

"The lesser races, or mensch as they called us, were the humans, elves and dwarfs. They fought each other over who would control us, they called It guiding us but I can't imagine any human, or elf or dwarf for the matter, being stupid enough to fall for their line. The war came to a head where the Sartan were scared that they wouldn't win so they did they unthinkable, they broke apart the world. In its place the created five worlds: Chelestra; the world of water, Arianus; the world of air, Pyran; the world of fire, Abarrach; the world of stone, the Labyrinth the prison they created to contain their enemies the Patryn and the Nexus the city created for the Patryn to live in after they escaped from the Labyrinth."

"Into each world they sent a few of the mensch they had chosen to save from the sundering." he continued his story. "With them went a few of the Sartan to assist them and to get their grand plan working. Each world was to be connected and work together. Something went wrong, the Sartan began to die off and the birth rate of their children dropped off. Soon they became nothing but a legend, a myth."

"That is barbaric! Lives should not be fought over and destroying the entire world just to win a war is terrible. What were they thinking?" Giles broke in.

"They were scared. Fear dose funny things to people. Anyway, back to my tale. I was a assassin who lived on the world of Arianus. I called myself the 'hand of vengeance' and worked killing those who the king's justice didn't touch. Mostly barons and dukes. The entire story," Thanatos placed one of the two cases he brought onto the top of the table." Is written withing these seven books."

Thanatos slid the case over to Giles who opened it. Inside was seven leather bound books and a smaller book. Giles pulled out the first book on the top of the stack and looked into it. As he ran a hand over the cover he swore he could feel the history the book had survived.

"Who is this Haplo?" he asked.

"Haplo is a dear friend of mine and was the first of the demigods I met. Anyway these are his journals and they will explain everything about me and my world." Thanatos told him.

"Alright, that will answer my questions about you except one. Why do you have such animosity toward the council?" Giles asked.

"That last book, the small one, that will answer your question. Just look inside it.." Thanatos answered.

Giles did as he was told and opened the book. Inside was a dating system he translated without thought, so used to using it by now he did it without even thinking about it. It took him a few minutes to realize what he had just done and he looked up at Thanatos in shock. "Dear lord, you were a watcher!?"

In the woods of Sunnydale....

Xander's magical call spread out over Sunnydale, until it touched a creature sleeping in a cave. The creature's red eyes popped wide open, a growl escaping its jowls. The magic it felt energized it in a way the Hellmouth had been unable to do in its sleep all these years. Its tongue hanging from its mouth as it tasted the air, as it tasted the magic filling the air. Taking in the magic it felt the strength return to its limbs as it channeled the magic to the places where it would do the most good. The more magical energy it took it the stronger it got until it broke free of the tree limbs that had grown it around it as it slept. Tongue still hanging out he struck out with one paw and shattered the boulders blocking the cave.

As it darted out of the shadows it hit the moonlight and revealed itself. It was a horrifying wolf-like monster with blue-tinted fur, long sharp claws and its glowing red eyes betrayed the fiendish intelligent of the creature. It stopped a moment lifting its snout, sniffing the air while its mouth tasted it. After a moment spent savoring the air the monster bounded off toward town, letting out a fierce soul shaking howl on the way.

Xander's Basement.....

Xander continued the ritual as Xantos watched from the corner. The staff was sitting next to the recently acquired book and crystal. About halfway though the night the crystal began to glow a very light, very pale blue. The glow was so light that even if someone was looking for it they might have missed it. Suddenly Xantos felt a enormous flow of power enter the ritual and empower it to heights that Xantos had never before seen. Using his arcane senses Xantos tried to determine what kind of power was trying to gain control of the spell but was unable to determine any intent behind the power. It seemed to be just pure, uncontrolled arcane power flowing into the ritual and there was nothing Xantos could do to stop its flow. He watched with a light worry in his being as Xander continued his spell, unaware of the power flowing into his spell.

Across town the mayor sat straight up in bed, sweat soaking his forehead. The magical call was different then any other form of magic he had ever seen before. As he reached out with his own, strong magic the mayor felt three different sources of power radiating from this magical call. He probed deeper into the magic and was able to determine that the power was combination of three different sources, godlike magic, chaos magic and a deep influence of a type of magic that felt old, far older than any he had sensed since he had contacted the ancient one that gave him the knowledge to ascend. He had no sooner figured out the types of magic that made up this call then he was attacked magically. He fought back but was defeated. He was thrown back against his bed as a light blue creature appeared above him. The creature was about five foot tall with pitch white skin, a vaguely birdlike face and large, dark eyes. It had a long neck that twisted around to look behind it and then quickly repeated the process with the other direction. The most distinctive feature of the creature was its six arms.

The creature turned its head to look back at the mayor and a voice arose in the mayor's head. "Mayor Wilkins, yes," The creature responded to the Mayor's thought. "I can read your mind. You have attacked a artifact that belonged to the Furling empire and as such were defeated. Do not attempt to attack this artifact again or risk your destruction. Farewell." The creature vanished leaving a visible shaken Mayor.

'What else could possibly go wrong in this town?' as soon as the thought entered his mind the Mayor groaned. The phone beside him rang and he picked it up. "Wilkins, this better be pretty darned important."

"Sir, we have lost the book and crystal. The store owner was dead but we couldn't find anything of Bennie." Came the answer.

'I had to tempt Murphy didn't I?' The Mayor thought. Making up his mind quickly he snapped into the phone "Gosh, I guess we should go to plan B then. Wake Alan up and start to retrieve the items we will need." Nodding to himself the Mayor rolled over and fell back asleep.

Willow's house.....

Willow eagerly opened her email, hoping for a reply from Sam. After a few minutes of shifting though the various emails she had, none of them from Sam, she realized that she had not heard from Sam for a few days. How interesting could deep space radar telemetry be anyway?

'Deep space radar telemetry,' She though to herself 'that sounds like a government cover up if I ever heard one, which I haven't but that would be what one would sound like. I bet shes involved in some sort of top secret research! Maybe something doing with space maybe not.'

Willow's curiosity got the better of her and in moments she found herself hacking into NORAD's primary database. Willow was disappointed when all she found was space telemetry and was about to log off when she discovered a link to another, larger database. This one had more defense in it and, from the looks of the coding, it seemed as if Sam had had a hand in designing it. Before challenging the defense of the second database Willow rerouted her connection through several different severs and routers in order to confuse any back traces any other programer tried to perform. That done she began tearing down the defenses one by one, it helped that Willow remembered most of the coding from Halloween. Willow detected a sloppy attempt to try and trace her signal, defeating it almost instantly.

During this entire time the thought that she shouldn't be doing this didn't even register in the young girl's mind. She defeated the automatic defenses and was now working against, and winning, human programers directly. A beep drew her attention away from the lines of coding. A window popped up in her IM program. 'Sam Carter is now online' was displayed in a window and almost instantly the defense of the mainframe increased. It was now taking Willow more and more time to respond to the attacks but that didn't stop her, rather, it brought a smile to her face. A chance to prove herself against Sam Carter? This was a once in a life time chance that she was going to savor.

SGC....

Sam, along with several other scientists, were typing furiously away at their keyboards. The anti-virus programs had detected an intruder and alerted them to it several minutes ago. Now the were trying to both stop the hacker and trace the signal at the same time. Sam was put in charge of removing the intruder and was more than a little confused. All the programs the intruder used were variations of programs that she had built to aid in her own 'investigation' work. There was several dozen lines of coding that greatly improved on the efficacy of the program that seemed familiar somehow. Every line that the intruder had switched in her programs seemed almost as familiar as the lines she had wrote herself, almost as if she had seen them before.

Mentally shaking her head, Sam placed that problem to the back of her mind and put her full focus on the task at hand. Pulling up a list of systems the hacker had managed to gain access to Sam noticed two things. One, that the overall goal of the hacker was the mainframe, and two, that the hacker had not yet managed to compromise the mainframe's security. All other attacks of the hacker were meant to distract the defenders from the mainframe. Acting upon this revelation Sam quickly shut down the mainframe's access to the server. While this would hamper their efforts a little bit, it would make the mainframe completely safe from the intruder.

Sam then turned to attacking the hacker rather than completely operating on the defensive. She launched several virus programs to disrupt the connection of the hacker. She was somewhat surprised when the the intruder completely disarmed them without much trouble at all. While these programs were just the opening servo in her cyber-arsenal, in most cases they were able to force a disconnect. Sam quickly broke out her heavy hitters and was just as shocked when the intruder disabled them with the same ease they had shown in disarming her first programs. After launching several more attacks, all of which were defeated, Sam launched the one attack that no decent hacker would use against another. Mostly because anybody who would try to hack a government computer would put defenses up to guard against such an attack. Sam watched as her program snaked her way though the intruder's defenses.

Back in Willow's room....

Willow was having a blast. From the looks of it Sam was in charge of the defense while the losers who had been directing the defense before were trying to backtrack her. She was a little disappointed, however, over Sam's attacks so far. She hadn't used anything that Willow didn't remember from Halloween, she had hoped that Sam would use some new programs. Oh well, it was time to hit the main database and leave. Willow was typing in the commands that would allow her to copy Sam's memory when her screen blinked. When the screen came back up a message box was in the middle of the screen reading 'Sending....Please wait.'. Willow stared at the screen for a moment before disconnecting her modem and restarting her computer.

Once it was back up and running the same box popped up and Willow sighed. It looked like she would have to completely reinstall everything from the operating system to the programs she had lost. Willow bowed her head for a moment and started. This would take quite a while.

SGC....

Sam smiled. It had worked! Her program had forced the intruder to disconnect. Not only that but the program had allowed the tech boys to get a partial trace. They had traced her to a server that provided internet connections to the greater California area, including Sunnydale. This, along with the other evidence she had gathered, would make a strong case for checking out the small town. Picking up the folder that held the evidence Sam left to brief General Hammond on the intruder.

She was almost to the briefing room when the thought she had set aside came crashing back to her mind. The lines of coding that the intruder had replaced in her programs matched the lines Willow had used to disarm her tracing programs in their emails. Luckily she had a print out of every email she had sent to Willow and every response she had received from her. Steadying herself mentally for the challenge ahead, Sam walked into the briefing room.

Thirty minutes later.....

"Sir, you can't be serious!" Sam yelled. "We have a possible leak, a leak that knows the base's security programing and who has proven that they can defeat it as well. They also may know everything about the Stargate program, not to mention that the intruder's coding matches the coding Willow used to disarm my programs."

"Programs you were not authorized to use," General Hammond interrupted her. "I have my orders, Major, and while I don't like sitting around anymore than you do, we have been ordered to leave Sunnydale to Co. Mayborne and the NID. An order which came from both the pentagon and the president. Unless you believe they will change their minds based on what you have presented me, we have to leave Sunnydale alone."

General Hammond dismissed everyone but gestured to Sam to stay. Sam followed him into his office and closed the door. "Major, I know you want to discover what exactly happened to you on Halloween but right now we just don't have the evidence to convince the higher ups. I want you to use extreme caution and find me something I can use to receive permission to investigate. Please be careful Major. Dismissed." Sam nodded and left the room.

Giles's Home, a few hours later.....

Thanatos and Giles were both leaning back in their chairs, bottles of empty liquor on the coffee table. Giles had brought out the liquor shortly after finding out that Thanatos had been a Watcher. Thanatos had not hesitated to drink and before long he was drunk. Giles had not imbued as much as the druid and was completely sober.

"So," Giles started out, "How long were you a Watcher?"

"I was, was a watcher for ten years," Thanatos stared at his empty glass in dismay until Giles refilled it. "I thought, you see I thought like you said. If I joined up with the council I could kill a lot more vampires and demons then I could alone. It was 1519 when I was chosen to be the active watcher of a slayer, Danielle, my sweet Danielle!" he broke down sobbing.

Giles reached over to the sobbing man and placed his hand on his shoulder. It took a few moments for Thanatos to compose himself before he continued, taking a large pull from his glass.

"I was chosen as the watcher for the active slayer at the time. She was good, almost as good as Buffy. Officially we were active for only six months before her death...." Thanatos's head dipped.

"Officially?" Giles asked.

That brought the druid's head back up. "Yessssss, you must have noticed the gaps in the journals?"

"Yes, the council told me that they were Slayers who were called that had no prior training. They couldn't last very long against the vampires that discovered them and died quickly." Giles answered, taking a small sip of his own drink.

"Mostly that is what they are. A few, have you ever noticed how funny that word is? Few." Thanatos laughed and nodded once again.

"A few???" Giles brought him back to his story.

"A few? Ah, yes, A few of them, mostly the ones that lasted more than a few weeks, are Slayers and their watchers who didn't agree with the council's practices. The slayer in question would be recycled and the watcher fired, or recycled if it was deemed necessary. I was one such watcher. I disagreed with them that the Slayer needed to fight alone. Well, that and I committed a huge crime, at least according to them. I fell in love with her. My sweet Danielle." Once again Thanatos broke into tears. It took him several minutes to clam down enough to continue. "The council, the bastards, found out of course and they fired me. When they found out that she wouldn't stop seeing me, and that she wouldn't obey the new watcher, they issued a recycle order for her. She escaped the first attempt with my help and we, we spent the next several weeks on the run. I killed several of the council's wet works teams by this time and they gave up sending them. They had not given up on killing Danielle though. They hired the Order of Turaka to terminate both of us."

Thanatos seemed to nod off for a few moments which gave Giles a chance to jot down a few notes. Several minutes later he woke back up.

"Ah, where was I?" he asked.

"The order of Turaka." Giles reminded him.

"Yes. I was, at the time, working as a freelance member of the order. I took contracts for demons and undead, as they didn't come along very often I was only a contact member instead of a full member. I only mention this because the order has very strict rules, a contract placed upon a member is forfeit and canceled as soon as it is discovered." he answered.

"And that protected you and Danielle?" Giles inquired, pouring Thanatos another drink.

"It protected me," Thanatos took a large drink from his glass. "Danielle was not member. I tried, oh boy did I ever try, but they ended up killing her. I swore my vengeance on the council on that day and it has taken me this long to exact that vengeance."

Thanatos stood up and swaggered to the door. "Thank, thanks for the drinks Mr. Giles but I need to go."

"I'm not so sure that is a good idea. In your condition you could become a victim of a vampire attack." Giles protested.

"I'm fine" He tried to wave off the older man's protest. "I swear to drunk I'm not god."

"Here," Giles gently laid Thanatos down on the sofa. "Stay here until the morning then you can be on your way."

Thanatos lay down and closed his eyes. Giles, meanwhile, took the several large tombs up to his room and laid them out. Picking up the smaller book he started to read.

One hour later.....

Thanatos's eyes opened. He quietly got up and creeped to the door. Quietly opening it he slipped out to his van. Getting in he moved to start the engine when a hand clamped down upon his shoulder. Spinning around he had a dagger ready to launch in his hand. He relaxed when he saw the woman the hand belonged to.

"Morrigan," He said as the beautiful redheaded woman climbed into the passenger seat, laughing."what are you doing in my van?"

"What am I doing in your van?" she repeated with a slight Irish accent. "I just thought I would ask you what game you were playing with yon Englishman."

"I wasn't playing a game." he snapped back.

"Oh, then am I just to accept that he manged to drink a lad like you, a lad I have seen out drink several bonnie Irishman, under the table?" she asked.

"Anything I would have told him he would have been suspect. He thought getting me drunk would make me more truthful and I let him believe that. As simple as that." Thanatos answered.

"Aye, that would be a good idea," She told him "Except I saw your true self come out during your speech."

Closing his eyes Thanatos took a moment to calm his emotions. "I still grieve about her, even after all these years. I still can't talk about her without pain."

"Is there any way I can talk you out of this?" She asked.

"Out of killing the last person who personally ordered her death? No." he answered.

"Ah, well." She said "Do you truly believe that she would want this?"

"No, she would want to kill them herself. Since she can't I will kill them for her." He answered "Enough about this. Why did you seek me out?"

"I came to say goodbye." She answered. Seeing his shock she continued. "It is time the position of justice passed on. Don't you worry none though, I will not be dying. I am on my way to pass the position on to my replacements."

"What? Why would you chose now to pass them on?"

"I didn't chose. The Earth told me the time had come. I am going to retire and spend more time with Kevin." She answered. "I am just glad the position will stay within the blood of Eire."

"Who is your replacement?" Thanatos asked.

"Them, my replacement is a set of brothers. Their names are Connor and Murphy McManus. You will meet them in six months at the annual meeting. Would you mind dropping me off at the airport?" She asked.

"You were so good of a justice that it took two to replace you?" He asked. The conversation continued as the van took off for Sunnydale international.

Xander's House, the next morning.....

Xander came to his senses. His head was pounding and he was soaked in sweat. Staring at the wall Xander felt that something wasn't right. The sun was pouring into the basement from the small windows, his table with Xantos, the book and crystal were still there. What was it? Xander glanced at his watch and found out what was bothering him. The ritual was supposed to last an entire day, Xantos had been very clear on this fact, and yet only twelve hours had passed.

'I must have messed up somehow,' he thought 'That would be the only explanation that made sense.'

Xander stood up, groaning slightly at the protests his knees gave him,turned and fell back with a Ahhhh! Sitting before him was a large, shaggy black dog with green eyes. As Xander fell over the small table that held the book, staff, and crystal the dog's jowls dropped and Xander could swear that he heard a dry chuckling coming from the dog. Fumbling behind his back, Xander brought his staff up in a defense position. Xander and the dog sat there for a few moments before Xander heard a voice in his head, a voice that was more, feminine, than Xantos's.

'Just clam down,' as it spoke a small dragon-like creature slowly floated down from the basement's rafters. The creature's skin was slowly taking the hue and texture of the room around it as it flew. 'We heard your call and answered. Now, how about some food?'

"Wait just a frigging minute here!" Xander yelled. "Who are you?"

The small dragon landed on the floor between Xander and the dog. It began to preen its wings as it answered. 'Food first questions later'

The dog didn't seem to like this very much and stood up, fur rising up and growling. He let loose with several small yips and barks which the dragon seemed to ignore. It was only when the dog snapped its jaws a small distance from the small dragon's head that it seemed to notice him.

'Fine, since its two against one.' The small dragon looked at Xander, its eyes also a bright green.' This is Sirius and I, in all my glory, am the pseudodragon Saratendra. You may call me Sara.'

"And its nice to know your names but what are you doing here?" Xander asked.

'Humans,' the condensation in Sara's voice was almost thick enough to cut though 'we are your familiars. You cast the ritual and summoned us. How a wizard like you managed to get a blink dog and a pseudodragon on your first casting is beyond me.'

"Wait, a blink dog?"

The dog just dropped its jowls in its laugh and disappeared. He reappeared a moment later sitting a good six feet from the spot he was in before. Xander's jaw dropped in shock and he could swear that he could hear the dog's laughter once more

A/N: Alright, here it is. The next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.

I would like to apologize, I have been misspelling Morrigan's name in the last chapters. This is the correct spelling. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I love reading what everyone thinks. And thank you all for all of your suggestions, they were very helpful!

If you want to see a picture of the creature I decided to make into the Furlings here is a link: .

And a picture of Morrigan .

I don't own these pictures or the characters in this story. Morrigan is a character based off a historical figure that the writers of Hercules decided to put in a number of their eps and I just borrowed her for my story. Hugh the hand belongs to the Death's Gate novels and they belong to Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman.. Buffy belongs to Mutant Enemy and all things Marvel belong to Stan Lee. I think that is all of them, :)


	11. Hunters and Prey

Chapter Eleven

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the new part!

Janus's Realm....

Janus sat in his chair doing something that anyone who thought they knew him would swear he never did. He was thinking. None of the lesser gods, hell none of the gods period, thought he made plans. They all believed he played his part without any thought, that it was all just what seemed fun at the moment. Right now he was trying to solve a problem that he had been thinking about for quite a while. The First's champion.

If Xander faced the Master soon, as it seemed to be the most logical end to his current activities, then the Master would be able to overpower Xander and kill him, or worse. The only way he could think of to delay such a unfavorable end was to intervene himself and that was forbidden. Hence, the thinking. His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Athena.

"Hello Thena," He told her "What can I do for you today?"

"My name is Athena, not Thena." She answered "And I came to see a sight no other god has ever seen, the lord of chaos thinking."

"Very funny. I am trying to come up with a plan to delay the First's new chosen one from combating my son. Without breaking any of the laws I had agreed to." he answered

"Delay?" she asked. "Why just delay when you can take him out of the mortal plane and remove your darker brother permanently?"

"That is not possible." Janus said " The First Evil is eternal, as am I and The First Good. Even if we were not I have made agreements with both my brothers that I will not attempt to discover a way to terminate either one of them."

"Ah," Athena held up one finger "You are a master of taking advantage of loopholes in agreements. You never sought the way out. I, as a 'lesser' goddess, discovered the way. You are all three eternal unless you leave yourselves open, which the First Evil has done. This is, however, a downside."

"I should have known." Janus sighed "What is it?"

Athena made a gesture and a large book, leather bound with a large owl engraved upon it, appeared on the table. Janus reached for the book while Athena continued to explain. "The downside is that, since the First is the embodiment of evil, someone must take his place."

Janus, being one of the three eternals, only had to touch the book to absorb the knowledge within. After he heard what Athena was describing his eyes became as big as saucers. "You want to replace The First? With what, a talking toad?"

"No, Janus. You see its like this......" The talks between Janus and Athena continued for years in their time frame. For us mortals it would only seem to take seconds.

Outside Xander's house......

The strange wolf-like creature sat in the shade of the house across the street of Xander's home. He had followed the magical call to this house before it had ceased. Now he watched and waited, looking for the one whose blood was rich with the energy he had tasted yesterday. Until he discovered that person he would change. The wolf's body gave a harsh sounding crunch and its skin shifted. Bulging and contracting a high pitched howl escaped the wolf's mouth. After a few minutes the changes ended and the wolf was no longer a wolf. Sitting on the sidewalk was a humanoid creature, with two arms and two legs but the similarities ended there. The creature was smaller then a human with a flat face, broad nose, pointed ears, wide mouth and small sharp fangs. One of the key differences between this creature and a human, besides its height, was that the creature's arms hung almost to its knees.

The goblin, as anyone who had read Lord of the Rings could tell you, sat upon the grass, naked. Looking around he dashed under the nearby bushes and into the backyard of the neighbor's house. Laying upon the line drying was several pieces of clothing. Picking out some of the drying laundry off the line the goblin dressed in a shirt and pair of pants that were a little baggy on him but otherwise fit. As he was changing the goblin missed Willow entering Xander's house but was back on watch soon after wards.

Xander's Basement.....

'Yes a blink dog,' Sara's voice sounded bored. 'I'm sure that someone with your level of intelligence, and your library, should be able to find out all his little secrets. Now, on to more important things such as food. Can you get me some?'

Xander was spared answering the petite dragon's question by Willow's arrival.

"Hey Xander, what ya up to?" She asked, coming down the stairs. Spotting the dog Willow let out a squeal of happiness, knelt and held out her hand. "When did you get a dog?"

Sirius slowly walked over to the young woman and gave her palm a small sniff. Sirius's tail began to wag and he proceeded to give Willow a face washing. What was really weird, at lest to Xander, was the approval he felt flowing from the small part of his mind that was connected to the blink dog. 'Okay,' he thought 'have to get that under control.'

Slightly shaking his head to regain his senses Xander answered her. "I didn't. I did a small ritual to summon a familiar last night and I ended up with these two guys."

"Two?" It took Willow a moment to spot Sara, her scales having shifted to the same color as the floor, but when she did she gave another squeal and, rushing over to Sara, picked her up. "Isn't she cute? Shes the most cutest thing I have ever seen."

As Willow admired Sara, her voice came though to Xander. 'Now her, I like.' She said 'Could you ask her to feed me?'

Smiling slightly Xander asked "Wills, could you take these two upstairs and feed them for me? I am going to talk to the voice inside my head for a minute."

Willow nodded and walked upstairs, Sirius following her. Though his bond with the dog Xander could feel the small resentment that Sirius was feeling toward Sara at the moment as well as the feeling of enjoyment that Sara was getting out of both Willow's praise and Sirius's resentment. Putting the matter aside for the moment and fell into the cross-legged form he used for meditation. Pushing aside all stray thoughts he delved deep into his mind.

Mental library......

The library slowly formed around Xander. When it had completely formed the first sight he beheld was Xantos sitting at the large table reading a book. The second thing he noticed was the two blurry forms hanging around in the background. Taking a seat across from the dragon Xander stared at the two forms.

"These," Xantos waved to the two forms behind him without looking up from his book. "are the connections that you share with Saratendra and Sirius. At the moment you can only feel their feelings but, in time, you will be able to do so much more."

"Alright I get that," Xander told him "But why do I have two of them? And why did the ritual only take half a day when you told me it would take a whole day?"

"You know," Xantos said with a sigh "I may be your teacher and instructor in the ways of magic but I tire of you asking questions you already posses the answers to. Answer your question for yourself."

Xander spent several moments doing his world famous fish impression before he snapped. "What do you mean?" he asked angrily "How can I possibly answer this question for myself? The only way I could is to do some massive research."

Xantos finely looked up from his book. A look of anger passed over his face. "You have all the knowledge of one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, mages on Eberron in your mind yet you refuse to use it." Xantos got up, walked over to Xander and shoved two clawed fingers into his chest. "If you are unwilling to use all the tools that you have at your disposal, wither they be memories or items, then you will never fully embrace your potential. You have a quick mind, as evidenced by your quick progress in the arcane arts, as well as a strong body. Use them both to their full advantage and stop relying so much on others. Friends are good, hell friends make the world go around, but if all you do is take without giving they will turn on you for your own good. Do you understand me?"

Xander rubbed his chest where Xantos had poked him, those claws hurt! Luckily they didn't draw blood. Thinking on what the dragon had just told him, he realized that he had been coming to the dragon to answer every little question that popped into his head. While the dragon may have more knowledge then he currently did, Xantos was right. Everything that Alexander had known and experienced in his very long life was trapped in his memory and he had not once looked into it for answers. It was far too easier to ask Xantos then it was to face the memories once again.

Setting his mind to it, Xander decided that he would do whatever it takes to become a mage such as Alexander was. Closing his eyes Xander reached into his mind while Xantos took his seat, a small smile upon his face. He had told Xander everything that the teen needed to know and that he needed to face. Up to this point in his life he had relied on Willow's brains and Buffy's strength. Hopefully after this he would try to be more forward and progressive then he had been in the past.

Xander watched as the world that he knew only though Alexander's memories flew past him. It was both the most exhilarating and terrifying event he had ever experienced. As he watched he saw Alexander grow, age, accept Xantos from the dragons of Argonnessen, the training he went though, his many, many adventures and, finally, his exploits during the last war. Along with the experiences came knowledge, lots of it. He could tell you for a fact exactly what happened to Alexander in any given day of his life but the frustrating part was that, while he could remember Alexander reading books, he couldn't remember anything that the books had said. When he tried all he could see was blurry pages. The only knowledge he could use, or least he thought he could, was the crafting skills that house Cannith had taught him.

As Xander opened his eyes Xantos spoke." I will teach you a spell that will allow you to use the crafting skills you remember although," And he looked Xander deep in his eye at this point "You should not use it as a everyday spell. If you enjoy a craft enough then you should learn to use it the right way. Magic is not a short cut. After all anything worth doing is worth doing right. After you have learned the craft spell, and you have had enough time to settle down from your familiar ritual, we will begin work on a new lesson. This one will be on how to scribe spells down on paper. This will allow you to create your spellbook and is the last lesson I will be teaching you."

"What, your just going to ignore me from now on?" Xander asked, opening his eyes.

"No, I will be taking a nap soon and that is why I will not be teaching you anymore lessons. You are still young and you must be able allowed to progress in your career on your own. "

"Wait, what do you mean your going to be going to sleep? I can't handle this whole wizard thing on my own." Xander protested.

"That, right there, is the very reason why I must slumber." Xantos told him "If I stay awake you will always have me to fall back on. You must learn that you are a talented and capable young man. I have had very few students in my life who could learn as fast as you have. Not only will you be able to handle learning to become a mage on your own but you will also have your friends to discuss problems with as well. Anyway, its only going to be a nap, say forty or fifty years."

"A nap???" Xander was slack-jawed. "That's what you call a nap!!! What are you, Rip Van Wrinkle?"

Getting the meaning from Xander's mind Xantos laughed. "My race enjoys sleep almost as much as the other pleasures of life. Now, did you discover the answer to your questions?"

Running over the knowledge in his mind Xander answered. "Yes. There are a few different things that could have happened. The one I think most likely though is that my ritual was somehow empowered by a outside source. That would explain why my ritual only lasted twelve hours instead of twenty-four. I still can't explain why I was able to call two familiars though."

"Since you have tried I will tell you why," Xantos told him "because of your dual personalities your ritual was conflicted. When the power was poured into the spell matrix it allowed your ritual to solve that problem by calling two suitable familiars instead of just the one. The blink dog, Sirius, represents the part of you that is a guardian. Sara represents your frivolous nature, your inner clown if you will. They both have more in common with you than that but those are the reasons that these two were chosen and called."

"OK," Xander thought about it a moment "are you sure Sara didn't come here because of my link with you?"

"That might be another reason." Xantos agreed "You might want to be thinking about getting back to your world though. In case you can't feel it Sirius is up to something that is causing Sara to become angry. There is one more thing, though," Xantos stopped Xander from leaving. "The knowledge you have acquired from Alexander will not carry over to your waking mind. If you have need to answer a question, and you don't have time to research the answer, just return here and the knowledge will await you. Remember that this is only to be a method of last resort. Do Not use it for every little question you have. Understood?" With a nod Xander drifted away from the mental library.

Xander opened his eyes to a rather amusing sight. Sara was chasing Sirius around the room while Sirius blinked around the room with a dish of meat in his jaws. In the corner was another, empty, dish that Xander figured was Sirius's. Willow, apparently, had fled the basement when this had started and was nowhere to be seen. As Xander was getting up to deal with the two of them, however, Willow came back downstairs with a opened can of Spam in hand.

'She must have thought that the entire fight was over food,' Xander thought. 'So she went to get more.' With what he could feel from the two animals though, he could tell it was part jealousy and part natural annoyance of Sirius's.

"Alright," She said, putting the spam into the empty dish "Here is some more for you boy, now leave the teeny dragon alone."

Sara and Sirius continued to ignore her and chase each other around the basement. Xander was getting up to try and break up the little fight they had going on when Sara, having watched Sirius's pattern as he blinked around the room, broke off and headed for the far side of the room. Just as Sirius appeared in the corner Sara dived bombed him, tail stinger out.

'That stinger,' Xantos told Xander as the young man went to head off the two 'Contains a sleeping poison capable of knocking out even a large animal.'

Luckily Sirius was quick. Dropping the dish he ducked as Sara's tail flew past. He growled and attempted to catch her tail with his mouth. Xander reached them at that point, feeling the satisfaction at the mischief he was causing turn to anger as Sara tried to sting him spurned him on, and he grabbed Sirius's haunches.

"Sara, land now!" He told her. After a few moments she complied and Xander continued. "Now, we all have to get along with each other so whatever problems you two have with each other, deal with them. As of this moment we are all friends."

He turned to Willow and asked "Well, you wanna know where these two came from?" At Willow's nod they both took seats and Xander launched into his story.

While the two best friends were talking Sara decided that Xander was right. Reaching out to the dog mentally she tried to speak to him.

'Listen, we both know that our mage is young.' she told him 'What he doesn't need is us fighting each other like we were both young once again. What we really need to do is try to guide him on his path. Truce?' Sirius's only answer was a small bark and nod.

SGC...

Daniel knocked on the door to Sam's lab. It was quite early, he was here two hours early, but he had no doubt that he would find Sam in her lab. After a few seconds without an answer Daniel quietly opened the door and walked in. Inside he found exactly what he thought he would, Sam asleep at her computer. Peeking at her monitor he saw all kinds of data on Sunnydale California. Everything from the high death rates to the low property values was listed on the monitor and it looked as if she was trying to find anything to connect Sunnydale to the strange events that have been occurring recently.

Setting his folder down on the desk Daniel gently shook Sam's shoulder. Sam awoke with a jerk, quickly throwing glances left and right. When she saw it was just Daniel, she didn't need Jack coming down on her for working though the night once again, she settled down.

"Doing a little homework?" Daniel asked with a smile and a gesture toward the computer.

"Yes," Sam quickly minimized all the windows on her computer "I was trying to find something that General Hammond can use to get permission to investigate Sunnydale. Despite our orders I can't let it go. Every time I close my eyes I see flashes, images of a life I never lived. Its the exact same as when I was blended with Jolinar. Most of the memories involve a blonde girl, Buffy, fighting night after night against vampires."

"It sounds like a interesting idea for a TV show." Jack chipped in from the door. "And I am here two hours early today, how long have you two been here?"

"I know how it sounds, Sir." Sam told him, avoiding his question "But it seems to real for me to believe that I am just making it all up."

"Well," Daniel broke it "General Hammond asked me to find anything I could to back you up." Daniel picked up his folder and started to leaf through it. "Sunnydale was originally Boca del Infierno, translated to The mouth of Hell. The modern town was founded in 1899 by Richard Wilkins the first who held the position of Mayor for the majority of his life. His son, Richard Wilkins the second, held a position as deputy mayor for the majority of his life and the current Mayor is a descendent of theirs, a Richard Wilkins the third."

"In the 1930's," he continued "the town was rocked by two major quakes, one of which buried most of the small town. Mayor Wilkins managed to rebuild the town in short enough order and people move to the town almost on a daily basis, despite the high death rate. Other than that there is little more in the recent history of the town."

"What about the more distant past?" Sam asked, while Jack threw his hands up and left.

"There are tales, most of them Spanish but some from the writings of the Navajo and Chumash tribes that lived in the area, of creatures that had the strength of several men. Most of the tales seem to be the same as other culture's monster tales of the time. That is all I have so far but I do have a few friends looking into the more recent history." he replied.

"Well, that helps." Sam glanced at the clock "We have a briefing for our mission on PXY-887 in a few minutes so lets go." The two of them left the room, Daniel leaving his folder on Sam's table.

Another World....

Two jaffa marched Doom into the throne room of Nirrti. Once they were before her they bowed while Doom remained standing. Nirrti looked at him in anger.

"Who have you brought before me?" She asked.

"My lord," One of the Jaffa, her first prime, said "This vermin was caught on your royal grounds. When we sought to capture him in your name he killed two patrols and then told the survivors that you were a false god."

"What!!!?" Nirrti yelled "How dare you come to my world speaking such blasphemy. Bow to your god!" Nirrti stretched out her hand and her ribbon device glowed.

Doom felt a powerful force pushing him downward. It was strong enough to force most people to their knees, unless they had Doom's armor. Silently engaging his servos Doom stood proud before the Goa'uld.

"Doom bows before no one." he told her "Cease this now."

"Force him to bow before me!" She commanded.

The two Jaffa stood and attacked, one going for the back of Doom's knees while the other moved to grab his shoulders. Doom reacted almost instantly, leaping over the staff of the Jaffa attacking his knees. Upon landing Doom lashed out, his hand grabbing Nirrti's first prime by the neck. With a sharp jerk he snapped the Jaffa's neck and let the body drop to the floor. Nirrti gave a loud yell for more guards. As the jaffa's body fell to the floor, Doom used his other hand to launch a very strong bolt of lighting into the door control panel. With a loud snap the door came down just in front of the jaffa coming in response to Nirrti's call. Turning his attention to the remaining body guards Doom killed each one, one at a time by using a combination of martial arts and his lighting blasts . Several of the guards staff blasts manged to hit him but his armor proved to be stronger. As the body of the last jaffa hit the ground Doom slowly made his way to Nirrti, who had her personal shield raised.

"For your attack on me you shall suffer," Doom told her "You shall lose your planets, truly the only thing you care about, as I take them one by one." His hand launched out and grabbed Nirrti by the chin. Forcing her face upwards, the rest of her body held still by the electric field his armor emitted. As her eyes met his Doom used his body swap technique and just as quickly reversed it. He now knew everything that the host, and therefore Nirrti, knew.

"You shall rue the day you crossed me. For now, however," Doom threw Nirrti across the room. "I shall be leaving." He triggered the hidden ring transport in the throne and was transported to a waiting cargo ship. Slightly smiling Doom punched in his flight plan and engaged the ship's cloaking device.

"The only thing that brings down this victory" Warren told Doom "Is the blast damage that those staff weapons caused to the armor."

"My armor will be repaired," came Doom's answer "And it will be upgraded even further. I have several, interesting, upgrades in mind for my new armor. Now, on to the coming campaign. After all, my new kingdom is at hand."

Sunnydale, that evening.....

The goblin was getting irritated and hungry. He had waited outside the home until two teenagers left, a boy and a girl. When he tasted the air behind them he discovered that they both contained a large about of suppressed power. From the auras of the two he could tell that the boy's power, while largely out of control, was more focused and channeled while the power that the girl had was completely uncontrolled. The boy's energy, when he took a moment to taste its residue, was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted and he was sure that the boy's soul would taste much the same. They only thing stopping him from attacking now, other then the indications that the boy was in control of his power, were the two vicious creatures that followed the boy. At the moment the boy could cause more trouble then his was worth. The girl, on the other hand, showed no signs of either using her power or of defenders and might just be worth the effort of attacking her.

As the goblin mused his attack a vampyre, Eric, slammed his fist into the creature's skull. The goblin fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Picking up the sleeping creature Eric gracefully left, leaving no trace that he had ever been there.

The Master's Warehouse, a hour later....

The world was blurry as the barghest slowly regained his senses. The first thing that he noticed, besides his blurry vision and aching skull, was that he was bound hand and foot to a chair. As his vision cleared he noticed two people. One was wearing a deep black hooded robe, while the other was a vampyre wearing a full plate armor with no helmet.

"Ah," Came the Master's deep voice "Its about time you awoke. You have been asleep for nearly an hour."

"What do the likes of you want with me?" The goblin's voice was small and squeaky.

"I have a job for you. The boy you were watching is someone I am interested in. I want you to attack him and lure him into a trap."

"Oh? And whats in it for me?" The goblin asked.

"If you do this I will have human mages delivered to you by the dozen for a week. You will reach your full growth a lot sooner if you go along with my plan. Otherwise I will let my dear vassal Eric here play with you a bit." Came the answer. Eric added to the effect by pulling out a knife that had a hooked tip and a serrated edge. Wearing a smile Eric waited for the answer.

"Alright," Came the goblins answer "Ill do it. I am going to need two meals before we do this though, to regain my strength."

"We will bring them to you. Now rest." With a gesture the ropes snapped, freeing the beast. "Don't even try to flee. Eric can track just as well, if not better, than you can."

Turning the Master and Eric left. The two of them retreated to the Master's private study. The Master moved to his desk where a strange book, a large leather bound book with a owl on the cover, lay .

"Whats this?" the Master asked "I didn't ask for this book." Picking it up he thumbed though it, his unseen eyes widening as they took in the information contained within. "Eric, bring the beast his meal and tell the others to leave me alone until tonight. I have some reading to do." As Eric left the Master sat down and started to read the book from the very first page.


	12. Anger and Rage

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I am sorry this chapter has took so long to write but double shifts have almost made it impossible to write lately. I hope to have the next one out sooner. Once again, thanks for reading and reviewing!

The Next Morning....

'Alright,' Xander thought 'its like this right?'

'No, your circles are to large.' came Xantos's reply 'Try once more, you almost have it.'

Xander tore the page out of the notebook, crumbled it up and tossed it on the floor. Other than the one he just threw, there were dozens of other crumbled up paper balls, each one a failed attempt at scribing a spell. Xander put his head down on the wooden table and groaned. He was inside of his vault and had been, for the last hour anyway, trying to learn to scribe spells. Once he learned how to scribe spells into his book he would also be able to craft scrolls as well.

Xander was learning that knowing how to do something was not the same as doing it. He had many memories of Alexander scribing scrolls and spells but that still didn't make it any easier to do it himself. If it wasn't his circles it was his spelling and he was getting more than a little frustrated.

Letting out a small sigh, Xander once again brought his pen to the paper for another attempt. Xantos mentally made notes on areas that Xander would need to improve before he took his nap. Xander wasn't doing too bad, he mused, he just needed to focus. Also I need to try and build his self-confidence up a little before my nap. Xantos's musings were cut short by Xander slamming his hand onto the notebook.

'I can't do this!' Xander thought angrily ' I don't understand what I am doing wrong! I draw every symbol exactly as I remember Alexander doing it.'

'What you are remembering is Alexander's code.' Xantos told him ' Each mage develops his own, shorthanded symbols to scribe with. Remember that there is two parts to scribing a spell: symbols that represent the materials and the symbols that represent the gestures. Once you have learned the basics you too, if you feel like it, will craft you own shorthand to scribe with. Now use the symbols in the book and scribe the spell.'

Grinding his teeth together Xander did as he was told. He first wrote the incantation in Dragonic, then moved on to the symbols that represented the gestures he would have to make and, finally, the symbols that made up the material components of the spell. As he wrote his mind, what little was not taken up by his work, began to drift. Thinking about Buffy's response to his new friends he smiled.....

Yesterday night.....

As Buffy opened her door, she caught sight of Xander and Willow standing there with big grins on their faces. In between them was a large black dog. Catching sight of the dog's eyes caused Buffy to do a double take. His eyes were bright green! And not just his eyes but she could swear that he had a grin that matched her two best friends.

"Alright, who got the dog? Wills did you dad finally let up and let you get one?" she asked.

"No," She answered "Sirius belongs to Xander. Hes one of his familiars."

Stepping to the side Buffy let the two of them in. When Sirius moved to follow she shook her head. "Sorry, Sirius was it? Xander you really picked a weird name this time, but mom would have a fit if you came inside."

As they sat down Buffy gave a yell as a red blur came flying past her head and settled on Willow's shoulder. Buffy quickly closed the door before Sirius could come in, and took a seat. She got a good look at Sara, who was busy preening her scales and looked at Xander.

"Let me guess, this is your other one? Or did you have a racing snail your not telling me about?" she asked. Xander managed to look seriously concerned and Buffy bought it. Leaping up onto the couch she asked "Shoot, did I step on him Xander?"

As Xander and Willow broke up Buffy came down off the seat and sent a death glare at the two.

"No," Xander manged to say "I only have the two of them. This is Sara, she is a pseudo-dragon."

Buffy was going to respond to Xander when Sirius appeared next to her. Giving a small yell Buffy leaped up and glared at the dog. "You were supposed to stay outside."

'Oh please,' Sara thought to all of them 'A dog is a dog. He will do what he wants when he wants. The most important thing right now, however, is who is going to scratch my back?'

"Okay, Xander your contiguous. I am now hearing voices in my head." Buffy told them.

The three friends spent a enjoyable night Bronzing and discussing what Sara and Sirius could do.

Back to the Present.....

Xander's mind snapped back to the present as he finished writing. He carefully checked over his work and, not spotting any errors, asked Xantos what he thought. It was the longest Xantos had took all day to look over his work.

'Yes,' Xantos thought to his pupil 'This looks good. You will need to work more on your symbol memorization but this is a very good inscribing. Very good job Xander. After today you will inscribe three spells a day into your spellbook until you have all the cantraps in your library in your spellbook.'

All the warmth Xander had felt at the praise Xantos had given him drained away at these words. 'What, I do it right and I get more homework? What kind of reward is that?' he asked.

'Xander, inscribing is a tool the best mages try and use once a day. If you make a mistake in casting a spell that spell is lost. If you make a mistake inscribing a spell, however, you will cause that spell to fail every time you cast it. In addition to the inscribing, I want you to memorize every symbol in that book before Ms. Summer's birthday, understood?' Xantos asked.

'But it will take me forever to learn all those things!' Xander protested.

'Xander, when was the treaty of Ghent signed?' the dragon asked.

'The treaty of Ghent was signed in 1815 and was what ended the war of 1812. The war was ended in a draw and the treaty allowed for the maintenance of the status quo ante bellum' Xander answered after a moment of thought. Xander blinked. 'Alright how did remember all that?' '

Xander felt Xantos's smile. 'A wizard's most important tool is his memory. The larger your memory, the more spells you can cast and some of the most powerful spells are incredibly long and complex. By expanding your memory you will be better equipped to deal with more unexpected events by having a larger amount of spells at your disposal. Some of the training we have been doing was designed to expand your memory. What you just answered was covered in your history class last week.'

'I don't even think I was paying attention!'

'No,you were more interested in the tight blue top Ms. Daniels was wearing that day, rather than what she was teaching. Sensing Xander's growing embarrassment Xantos tried to relieve him of it. 'Not that I blame you, she is a prime example of human beauty. Why, if I still had my body....'

'Stop!' Xander interrupted 'I don't need that image in my mind, thank you!'

'What? Dragons are a magical species, and as such can, and many times do, breed with any other species. When we find a person, animal or other creature that catches our eye we don't really care what they are.' Xantos answered.

'I find this conversation very disturbing on so many levels. Can we get back to the topic of my memory please?' he asked.

'If you insist. If you continue to use the excises that I taught you then you will have, in a short time, what you humans call a photographic memory. You will need a memory several times better than that in order to cast your most powerful spells, so I wouldn't let up on them at that point.' Xantos answered. 'Now memorize the spell you just inscribed and we will continue the lesson. Next comes creating a scroll....'

Master's Warehouse....

Every window in the building was painted pitch black. All exits, except the main door, had been boarded up. Piles of bodies and skeletons lay stacked against the walls while several lamps lit the area. In the center of the room the Master painstakingly drew symbols on the ground in three different colors: Blue, Green and Red. The paint itself was giving off a slight sheen and it gave off a faint glow as well. While he was working on the outer, red circle the door opened to admit Eric and the goblin.

"Ah, Eric, thank you." The Master stood and turned "As for you, beast..."

"I have a name you know," The goblins nasal voice interrupted "It's..."

The goblin's comment was cut off by Eric's longsword kissing his neck. "Interrupt my master once more and you will lose your head, understand?" The goblin nodded slightly, too afraid that the blade would kill him should he answer. Eric held his sword at his neck for several more seconds until the Master nodded.

"You were saying?" The Master waited a few seconds to see if the goblin would continue. When he kept quiet the Master continued. "Very well then. I called you here to discuss your part of my plan. You will have get the boy, Xander, to the inside of this circle. Once he is there I will consider your part of our bargain filled. Dose that sound good to you?"

"May I speak, Master?" Receiving a nod the goblin continued. "Do you have any suggestions on how I can achieve your goal?"

"I will leave that up to you. After all you have to earn your reward somehow, right?" he answered. "Just don't kill any of his companions. I have plans for each of them and should you kill one or more of them, well, I would have to allow Eric to go hunting like he has been wishing to do since our arrival." He paused a moment to allow this information to sink in before continuing. "Very well, my minions have gathered your meal. It awaits you back in your room, just be sure your ready by nightfall. Eric, attend me."

After the barghest left Eric dropped to one knee and bowed. "What did you wish of me my lord?"

A paper floated from a table over to the Master's outstretched hand. "You will find the names of six people on this paper. I want you to get every single person and demon we have in the information field to gather everything they can about them. I want this information as soon as possible, understand Eric?"

Taking the paper he stood. "Yes my lord. It shall be as you command." He left, leaving his master alone and in the dark except for the glowing red of his eyes.

Later that night....

Willow and Xander were walking towards a graveyard. As they walked they talked about everything that had happened to him as well as everything they had learned about Sara and Sirius. They were both armed, Xander with his staff while Willow had a vial of holy water and a stake. As they spoke someone watched. The barghest was in his wolf form and had been trailing the two ever since they had left Xander's house.

Listening in to their conversation he had learned that they were on their way to meet the slayer and he knew that once they did he didn't stand a chance if he attacked them. Making a quick decision he charged off in the direction of the graveyard. After a few moments he reached his destination and almost instantly, as if they were just waiting for him to find, found a group of six vampires. The leader, a big well built vampire, was yelling at them for running away from the slayer and leaving him to fight her. The barghest landed in the middle of them and changed, becoming his goblin form. Crouching on his legs he looked over the small group.

"Not much, but it will have to do. Congratulations, you now work for me!" he told them.

The leader didn't answer with words. Instead he charged the small goblin. The barghest, expecting such a maneuver, leaped at him. In midair he shifted, transforming into his wolf-goblin hybrid form and hit the large vamp in the chest. The vamp hit the ground hard but was barely aware of hitting the ground as he was busy trying to force the jaws of the barghest away from his neck. Surprisingly, to both the vamp and the barghest, his jaws kept getting closer and closer.

'Those humans I ate must have had more power then I realized.' he thought

The vamp failed and the barghest's jaws enclosed his neck. The vamp started to hammer on the sides of the beast to the seeming effect of just pissing it off. Finally, after a five minute struggle, the barghest jerked his head and the sound of a loud snap filled the air as the vamp's neck broke. Snarling the barghest shifted back to his goblin form and faced the shocked looking vampires.

"Now listen closely," he told them "you now work for me and will do as I say. I want you to go and attack the slayer..."

"No way," the middle vamp said "We ran when Eddy told us we were going to fight her what makes you think you can make us fight her?"

"Oh, just this," He reached down and tore a finger off of Eddy's inert but still undead form. " If you do not I will track each one of you down and slowly tear off each piece of your body. Once I have tore off every limb except your head I will turn you over to a group of Zorth demons. Fun guys they are, they feed of the energy that vampires give off and I am told it is extremely painful for said vampire. Now do you want to be dinner or do you want to get dinner?"

The five vampires shook their heads no. "We are with you." the same vamp told them.

"You idiots!" screamed Eddy "This is how you wound up working for the Master and now Spike!! Don't you have any guts at all?" Tired of hearing Eddy, the barghest reached down and tore off his head.

"Now go find the slayer. All I need is fifteen minutes. If you manage to survive that long then you may flee without me hunting you. Good luck gentlemen!" With that he changed and ran off into the woods.

A few minutes later.....

"Whats the hurry, Slayer?"

Buffy stopped and turned. She quickly picked out the five vampires behind her and they looked, familiar somehow. It took her a few seconds to place their names to the faces but when she did a smile broke out on her face.

"Didn't you guys already run away from me once tonight?" She asked.

"We didn't run..." he started only to be interrupted by Buffy.

"Funny, I remember fighting your leader and he yelled for you guys to attack me while my back was turned and you ran." She told them.

"We needed to have change of leadership. He was going to kill us anyway." He protested.

"Whatever. Lets just get this over with. I need to meet up with my friends." She dropped back into her fighting stance.

A few minutes passed as they stared at each other. When the vampires didn't make a move Buffy decided to attack. She charged forward, ducking and blocking the punches that were thrown her way.

'They are fighting pretty good,' she thought to herself 'If they had attacked me all at the same time before then I might have been in trouble.'

What she didn't know was that they were not trying to kill her. They had discussed it on the way and decided that the only way to win was not to try and win. They were merely fighting her to buy the wolf the time he needed to get whatever the hell he was trying to do done. To that end they had agreed that what they needed to do was try and fight her to a stand still,as a team, rather than try to kill her. And it seemed to be working. They had fought her for a solid ten minutes so far and not a single one of them were dust and they started to get cocky. The leader, the one who had spoken to Buffy at the beginning of the encounter, lead the shift in tactics from defense to offense. The others were surprised but slowly followed suit. That was where it began to go badly for them. Over the next five minutes the Buffy was able to take out each vampire as it shifted from defense to attack. When their was only a single remaining vampire left, he attempted to flee. Buffy was able to quickly overtake him and shortly after he was dust. Buffy was getting up when she spotted a large column of fire coming up near the spot where she was going to meet Xander and Willow. Quickly dusting off her hands she broke out in a run toward the fire.

Fifteen Minutes earlier.....

It took the barghest five minutes to reach Xander and Willow after his meeting with the vampires. Once he arrived he checked his watch, a 'gift' from one of the vampires, and was happy to see that he was right on time. Transforming into his hybrid form he gave his surroundings a quick look to determine that there wouldn't be any unpleasant surprises and then jumped into the clearing.

Willow reacted to him first. She threw her bottle of holy water and it smacked into his side, covering him in the liquid. Xander rushed forward with his staff in hand. He really didn't think that holy water would do much good against anything that was not a vampire. He stopped, a stunned look on his face, when the creature gave a loud yell and a slight vapor began to rise up from the creature's body, almost as if the water was burning him.

Xander and Willow stood watching the sight for one second too long. The barghest used his hind legs and sprung at Willow. Before either he or Willow could react to his unexpected jump he bit deep into Willow's shoulder. Willow screamed out in pain and shortly after passed out. The barghest managed to swallowed two large mouthfuls of blood, not enough to assist his growth but more than enough to heal the injuries he had received, and bound off into the forest.

When he saw Willow's blood gushing all over the front of her shirt Xander snapped. A deep fury seemed to overcome him and inside him a deep resonating energy seemed to answer his rage. As Xantos had tried to tell him several times, even magic had to bow to the laws of physics on occasion and this was one such time. As Xander's rage pounded through him it crossed over the link that connected him to Xantos. Xantos was surprised to feel such rage from his host and was even more shocked when he felt the barriers he had set up to separate his host from the majority of his raw power start to crumble. As he watched his power, the primal power of an elder dragon, infused Xander. Yet another lesson he had taught Xander, the lesson that all magic has a will of its own, came to mind as the will of Xantos's power took control of Xander. What that will wanted was not always understood and, if it was allowed, it would do as it wished with whatever it wanted. The amount of power now flowing into Xander was without any kind of control or direction.

Xander felt the power rush into him, a feeling of invincibility coming with it. Along with the power came several physical changes that Xander was unaware of. His eyes glowed red, scales grew around his eyes and his nails grew several inches into claws. Holding his hand up, palm upward, a large ball of flame sprang into being above it. With a snap of his fingers it contracted into a small vial of red liquid. Rushing over to his injured friend, he held her up as he poured the liquid into her mouth. Before his eyes the wound on her shoulder closed and her face began to show her normal color. A few seconds later Willow opened her eyes.

What she saw scared her speechless. Scurrying out of his arms, Willow put her back against the tree behind her and stared in fear. While Xander would have normally noticed her look of fear, now he did not. He felt something pushing him forward, something that was pushing him to take vengeance out on the barghest that had injured his friend. While this was pushing him onward, his will still seemed to have a small impact on his behavior.

With a small thought a red colored aura surrounded him and he flew ten feet into the air. Once their he pointed down and a red ring of fire flew from his finger, burning the grass around the tree in a circle. Once the fires had died he reversed his hand, his finger now pointed upward, and spoke several words of power. A clear shimmering dome now covered Willow and the tree. Calling once again on the the power that was now at his fingertips, Xander sent a large column of fire straight up into the air.

"Stay here, Buffy should be here any minute." Xander's voice was deeper, more sinister somehow. "As long as you stay within the burnt circle no evil creature will be able to harm you. I will find that, thing, and kill it." Even in his current state Xander was unable to leave it at that. "I'll be back." he said in his best terminator voice. With but a thought Xander quickly set off in the direction that the barghest had taken.

A few moments later, as Xander had predicted, Buffy came running into the clearing. Spotting the blood covering the front of Willow's shirt she rushed over to her and ran a critical eye over her body. Not spotting any wound that would account for so much blood Buffy raised her eyes to Willow's face. Only then did she notice that her best female friend in the world was looking up with a look that was best described as half awe and half fear.

"What?" Buffy asked "What is it, Wills?"

"I," She stammered "I think it was Xander."

"What do you mean? Was it Xander or not?"

"It was, but it wasn't." Willow took a breath and gathered her thoughts. "He looked the way Angel ,described him when he hurt him on Halloween. He had scales, his eyes were red and I think he 7had claws. Something, Something attacked me. It bit my shoulder," Her hand flew to the shoulder that had been bitten. "I guess I feinted and the next thing I know Xander was leaning over me and my wound was gone. Buffy, you have to go and help him! That thing could kill him!"

Buffy thought about it for a second. No matter which way she thought it out Willow needed more help then Xander at the moment. She would just have to hurry and get her to safety and hope she could reach Xander before he got hurt. Lifting Willow up she said "Come on Willow. Lets get you to safety and then I will come back."

"But he might get hurt before that!"

"We will just have to hope he has gotten strong enough to hold whatever it was that attacked you off long enough for me to get to him. I am not just going to leave you here." Buffy replied.

"Then lets go." Willow had her resolved face on "I can keep up with you and we can both go."

"I don't think that is a good idea Wills. Your so pale that I think you might pass out before we finish."

"Resolved face. I am not going to let something eat Xander! Lets go!" before Buffy could offer another argument Willow took off in the direction that she saw Xander take off in. Buffy gave a big sigh and quickly followed.

Meanwhile......

The barghest was worried. He had made good time so far and had gone almost a mile when he felt the enormous power coming from behind him. He had felt this type of power before, when he came into this world from the Hellmouth. He had to sneak his way past one of the old ones, an original first circle demon and, while this one wasn't as strong as that one was, it was powerful enough to cause him to put on another burst of speed.

He made it another fifteen feet before the trees on either side of him, and behind him, exploded. In case that wasn't enough a teenage boy, Xander, landed in front of him. Other then the physical changes the boy of emitting serious power. Time for plan B.

He changed to his goblin form and fell to his knees. "Please don't kill me! It was all his idea! I didn't want to attack her but he made me do it! Please have mercy!" he whined.

Xander didn't look like he was buying it. His eyes flashed and the ground in front of him exploded. Rather than causing him to back away in fear, as Xander had intended, he transformed into his wolf form and escaped to the side of him. Once the dust settled Xander realized his mistake and, with a curse, sped off after him. Using his size, speed and cunning the barghest managed to stay out of Xander's sight and managed to stay ahead of him until they reached the warehouse. As Xander stared into the dark doorway that the barghest vanished into, he felt something inside of him. Clutching his head he fell to his knees.

Inside Xander's Mental scape....

When he felt the barriers fall Xantos knew he didn't have much chance to stop his power from crossing over the link, Xander's own anger and power were calling to it, so instead he took the second option available to him: he tried to contact Xander's rational mind. Reaching above the anger, Xander's anger, he searched for a piece of Xander's mind that was uncontaminated by the anger. It took him most of the journey from Willow to the edge of the warehouse, and he was beginning to despair of ever finding a piece of Xander that the anger hadn't touched, when he emerged into the mental library.

The library was a very different place then he was used to. The back wall was completely tore down, a dragon was curled around something outside. The weather reflected the battle going on inside of Xander, storm clouds and lighting were flashing in the sky overhead. As Xantos moved closer he could hear the coiled red dragon muttering to somebody.

"Vengeance must be satisfied." he said "You must make it so no one will ever hurt your family and friends ever again. I give you that power, take it and see your enemies fall before you."

As Xantos got nearer he saw who he was speaking to. Xander stood within the coils, the dragon's head right near his body. Xander had scales growing on his skin and his eyes were glowing red. The more he listened to the dragon the darker red his eyes grew and the more scales grew over his body. At once Xantos realized what was happening. The dragon was the mental manifestation of his power and it was trying, quite successfully so far, to enslave Xander's mind to its own will. Unless it was stopped pretty soon all that would be left of Xander was a empty shell containing his arcane power.

Even worse was that his power had already corrupted his two familiars. He could see both the blurry forms that represented his connections to them and they were both completely red, his power had already corrupted both of them. He would have to move fast in order to prevent Xander from suffering a complete destruction of his personalty. Quickly running different ways he could achieve his ends he settled on the one he thought stood the best chance of success.

Taking a deep breath Xantos changed his form, becoming Buffy. Stepping forward he slapped Xander, hard. This seemed to snap Xander out of his trance but in a fashion that Xantos didn't predict: his eyes flashed and Xantos flew several dozen feet back, slamming into a bookcase.

"Whoa," Xantos stood back up, changing back to his humanoid dragon form as he did "Already able to kill your friends? You must be very proud of yourself. So much for helping Buffy, you just tried to kill her."

The red glow in Xander's eyes dimmed and he seemed about to speak when the dragon's tail snapped out, merging with Xander's back. The glow grew brighter than ever and Xander created a ball in fire in each hand.

"Your going to kill me? Go ahead. But you will do it with your own power, not mine." Xantos reached out with his right hand and focused. The dragon began to fade away. With a yell he fought back with the only weapon that he could: Xander. He fired a bright red beam out of his outstretched hand that hit Xantos dead center. Fortunately for Xantos the beam had no effect.

Xantos laughed as the large dragon dimmed and vanished. "You thought to strike at me using your power? You are MY power and cannot harm me unless I allow it or am foolish enough to leave you a opening. As for you," he turned toward Xander "If you still wish to strike me then do so but you will have to use only your own power. I have took control of my power so you no longer have any mental access to any of it. My power still has a hold of your mind and I can not stop this. You will have to gain control over your emotions. Don't do you for yourself or for me, do it for your friends. If you continue on the path you are taking you will kill them to steal their power. Don't do it."

Xander seemed to hear this. In the real world his body, which was running on pure rage, fell to its knees. Seeing that he had made some progress Xantos continued.

"If you will push all the anger and rage away I will help you kill this creature." He laid a hand upon Xander's shoulder. "Let me show you the proper way to help your friends. Lets work together to keep Willow, Buffy and Giles safe." he backed away and held out his hand. "Take it and we will kill the creature."

Xander's eyes grew brighter and dimmer in rapid fashion as the battle raged. It took several minutes before Xander's hand slowly, ever so slowly, to take the dragon's hand. Once they clasped a bright flash filled the room. When it cleared the red glow was gone from Xander's eyes and the library was returned to its normal appearance.

"Whoa," Xander shook his head "That was intense. What happened?"

Xantos quickly explained what had happened and what Xander's anger had triggered. "When we are done with killing the creature that attacked you and Willow, I will instruct you in creating your own staff." He finished.

"But why do I need a new staff? I've got you." Xander asked.

"If this had happened when I was asleep you would have gone berserk. My power is too much for you to control. We will create you a staff using your own power that will be a lot more stable. We can discuss this later, however. Right now we should be going after that creature. Agreed?"

Nodding his head, Xander woke up. His knees hurt but he gripped his staff tightly and got to his feet. Just as he was about to enter the warehouse Sara and Sirius caught up to him. Looking at the two of them he quickly, mentally, caught them up and together they entered the warehouse.


	13. Gifts

A/N: Alright here it is. It took several rewrites to finish but here it is! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope to read more of them! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. Buffy belongs to Joss, SG1 Belongs to MGM and Ebberon belongs to Wizards of the Coast.

It took several minutes for Xander's eyes to adjust to the dim light inside the warehouse. Once they had the sight that met him made his stomach churn. Heaps of bodies, both with skin and without, lay around the room. The stench overwhelmed his sense of smell and caused him to gag. However bad the smell was for Xander it was ten times worse for Sara and Sirius. The poor blink dog took one whiff and covered his nose and gave a small whimper. Sara, on the other hand, communicated her disgust mentally while her glowing eyes took in every detail. Her eyes, normally a pale yellow, were growing increasingly red in her anger. In addition to the stench of decay Sara could smell the unnatural smell of the undead nearby.

Before she could tell Xander this, his eyes were drawn to a crouching figure on the other side of the room. Lying on the ground was a freshly killed body and, standing just a few feet behind it, was the barghest. He was in his hybrid form and he smiled, blood dripping from his jaws. At the sight of the blood Xander felt his anger swell and he had to take several deep breaths to contain it.

"Well if it isn't the little mage." The barghest taunted "Here I am. You chased me, you attacked me and you wish to kill me. Well, here I am! Come get me!" Seeing Xander's hesitation he pushed a little more. "Or do I need to take another bite out of that little red headed friend of yours?"

Rather than sending Xander into uncontrolled anger this seemed to calm him even further. While visions of Willow and her injuries flashed before his face he repeated what Xantos had told him, as a mantra.

'Lose control, kill Wills. Lose control, kill Buffy.' he repeated through himself. 'Can't let that happen. I would rather die first.' Outwardly the only sign he gave of his inner struggle was a calm smile. His small smile only unnerved his prey, and no matter what the beast thought he WAS Xander's prey. Pulling his staff out Xander tilted it toward the barghest.

"Your attempts at angering me, beast," To his astonishment Xander found himself channeling Alexander "Are as futile as your attack against me and my friends. Your existence ends tonight."

'Very good Xander,' Xantos told him 'It seems your recent lesson has taught you control. Now back to the issue at hand. Kill this creature.'

Xantos words took Xander's concentration away from the battle just long enough for the barghest to attack. Xander never saw him jump but the first thing he did see was the beast flying through the air straight toward his neck. Xander unconsciously took a step back and the words of the spell he had memorized earlier came to his mind. A moment later it turned out to be unnecessary as Sirius, with a large growl, performed his own jump and intercepted him mid air. Both of them let out growls as they hit the ground and rolled end over end as they each struggled for control. Before Xander could go to the blink dog's assistance Sara swooped in stinging. Unfortunately the barghest seemed to be immune to her poison.

Xander would normally have joined the combat at this point but his attention was drawn towards an opening door. The door was hidden in such a way that, unless you knew exactly what you were looking for, you wouldn't be able to find it. Xander's eye was drawn toward the figures enter through the door. The first was a figure clad in a black robe and hood that covered everything except his glowing red eyes. The second was Eric, clad entirely in red plate armor and wielding his flaming long sword. They walked to the clearing in the center of the room before stopping.

"I've been waiting for you my young Alexander." The Master's voice reminded Xander of the crypt keeper's voice. "Now that you are here the fun can truly begin."

"You've been waiting for me? Did you take lessons about being a villain form Saturday morning cartoons? Because I think that you…." Xander told him, only to be interrupted by Eric.

"Silence! You will treat the Master with the respect that is due to him or I will cut your tongue out and feed it to the beast!" Eric snarled.

"Quiet Eric. Young Alexander here doesn't yet know who I am and respect must be earned. I just wanted you to meet me before your trip. Afterwards you should be just as loyal as Eric here is." The master told him.

Xander's reply, and it was a good one too, was cut off by Sirius hitting the ground in front of him followed shortly afterwards by Sara. Neither one of them seemed to be seriously injured just knocked out. The barghest, bleeding from dozens of places all over his body, skirted by Xander and hid behind the Master. Once he was behind the two of them the Master began to chant. Warned by Xantos, not that it was needed, Xander rushed forward to cut off whatever spell he was casting, only to hit a invisible barrier as the circles on the floor lit up one at a time. The Master continued to chant even after all three circles were lit and the space between the first and second circle filled with a strange dark gray mist while the space in between the second and third filled with crackling energy. Slowly a dark portal began to form inside the center, not too far from Xander, and a small wind began to pick up as air was sucked inside. Even as he watched the portal began to grow larger and larger, the wind picking up as more and more air was sucked inside. Xander felt a sense of dread begin to form inside the pit of his gut as he watched entire wooden crates vanish inside.

Outside, a little earlier…..

The demon cursed as he ran. Somehow, as Xander was chasing the soul eater, he had lost him and from all the indications this was the night that the son of Janus would need his gift. The shame that would befall his entire clan should he fail, No! That couldn't be allowed to happen. He could still detect the arcane magical trail that Xander had left as he chased the eater. He just hoped he would reach him before anything befell Xander.

The trail finally came to an end at an old warehouse but he found the door sealed against him. Nothing he could do could open the door, and he even tried to walk the dimensions! Cursing in several different languages he looked around, trying to find a way inside that wouldn't require using the door. He quickly spotted a series of crates that were lying scattered around the street. He gestured and, using his species natural born dimensional magic, warped the fabric of this plane until the crates were all stacked on top of each other, leading straight to a window. Quickly climbing up the makeshift staircase, the demon prayed that the window hadn't been sealed as well.

Reaching the window he discovered that, while the window had been locked, it was not magically sealed. Once more using his dimensional magic he leaped straight through the window without causing any harm to it. He hit the floor hard but was able to turn the fall into a roll and wound up on his feet a few inches from a pile of skeletons. The demon caught sight of Xander's plight and knew almost instantly exactly what was going on. A spell caster, a vampire most likely, was opening an inter-dimensional portal using the three fold rule of dimensional mechanics. The caster summoned the energies of the plane they wished to open the portal to in the first circle, amplified them using the pure energy of the second and, finally, opened the portal in the inner circle. It was a popular, yet rather unknown, way of opening dimensional portals if you didn't have the power or natural talent to open one on your own.

Pulling the green orb from his robes the demon tossed it at Xander, hoping the entire time that the containment circle was the same one used by almost every mage to deal with different dimensional beings. He watched as the orb flew through the energy barriers and slammed home into Xander's back. Green bolts of energy surged over his entire body and his eyes turned a bright neon green color. He fell to his knees and Sirius had to bite his shoes to keep him from falling into the strange portal.

The demon, his job done, turned to leave only to discover that the corpses had all gotten up and were shuffling towards him. Each one, wither it was a zombie or skeleton, had glowing red eyes and the skeletons had swords in hand. The demon quickly realized that the corpses had been nothing more than a ruse. They had been content to lie on the ground so long as nobody tried to interrupt the ceremony but if someone tried then they would quickly attack said person. All time for though came to an end as the first corpses attacked. Grinning the demon laid into the undead attacking with without restraint.

Xander was running plan after plan past Xantos, each one being discarded due to one reason or another, when his entire being was lit an emerald green. Sirius and Sara both let out yowls as they felt Xander being torn from their link. The connection was still there but it was as if there was no longer anyone on the other end. They held on to Xander and hoped that he would awaken soon.

Elsewhere…

Xander appeared in a land of infinite green. There just seemed to be no ground or sky in this place yet he was able to both walk and breath just fine. He looked around but there was nothing in any direction, it was kind of disorientating. Just as he was getting ready to scream, just to see if anything happened, two bright flashes of light blinded him. Once his eyesight returned he saw Janus and Athena standing before him.

"Xander my boy. Welcome to my home! Sit, Sit." With a gesture Janus created a table and three chairs, "May I introduce you to your aunt Thena?"

Xander was stunned. It took him a moment to respond but when he did it was with predictable anger. "I'm fighting for my life and you bring me here for what, a tea party? Not," He hastily broke in, "That I mind meeting you, Aunt Thena, but my father…"

"Is as annoying as a plague of locusts. My name is Athena and he knows I detest that nickname." Athena finished. "Nevertheless he dose have a reason, other than tea, to bring you here."

"Ok spill." Xander told his father.

"Oh come now. At least have a seat. Try and be civilized to your aunt if not to me." Janus answered. Xander and Athena both took a seat while Janus continued. "Very well. I brought you here to offer you some assistance during your current situation. Well, that and to give you a birthday present."

"To be more accurate," Athena interrupted. "You were trying to escape a spell that was rapidly opening a portal to the demi-plane of Ravenloft. The mage you are going against is a necromancer of great experience and strength. As such he is currently much more powerful than you are. Is that correct?" Xander could only nod at her description of his situation. "I thought as much. I know your education is being overseen by the American government in the form of public school so I am going to assume you don't know what exactly it is that I have power over and that I oversee?"

"Yes I do! My best friend in the world is a Wicca and she has told me all about the gods she calls on. You are my aunt," Xander casts a sly look at Janus who gave him a small smile and nod. "Thena. Goddess of wisdom, intelligence and strategic warfare."

"Your best friend that would be Willow Rosenburg?"

"Yeah, she is one of the smartest people I know." Xander answered.

"Be that as it may, she has never called upon me for her spells. We are, however, getting distracted from the subject at hand. I am, as you have stated, the overseer of intelligence, wisdom and warfare. As such I believe that I am qualified to assist you in your current situation, if you request it that is."

"What, you going to make me as strong as Buffy or as smart as Willow?"

"No." Xander's face fell. "It is true that I can grant those things to you but if you gain power or intelligence without working for it they will only corrupt you. It is true that each god and goddess has total power over everything in there sphere of influence. Janus, for instance, has been granted domain over gates, doorways, portals, roads, rivers and fountains. In addition he was granted the ability to see into the past and the future. Over these things he has total command, when a mortal allows him to at least."

"You guys are gods! How can any mortal stop you from doing anything?" Xander asked.

"Gods, such as Janus and I, must follow certain laws of noninterference…." Athena said.

"Utter useless things." Janus broke in.

"Please stop interrupting me. Now according to these laws we cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals unless upon by a mortal. This guarantees that mortals are able to excise their free will without being influenced by immortal beings such as us unless they wish it. These laws are upheld by the three eternal powers: The first change or chaos as he is called."

"I believe he has already met me." Janus chipped in.

"The first evil and the first force of good." Athena continued without pause. "Without the prayers of mortals we are almost completely powerless. Your time here has come to an end though. I hope this has aided you. Farewell, nephew."

Xander was trying to speak but Janus interrupted him. "When you wake up check out the gift I left you. I hope you put it to good use. Farewell son. Unless you call on me I doubt we will see each other again." As Janus finished talking Xander faded out. Janus turned to Athena. "Do you believe that we gave him enough?"

"I believe that we have given him everything we could without violating the agreements." Athena answered. "Let's hope that he can figure it out."

Earth….

Xander's eyes flashed bright green once more and then they died back to their normal color. Sara and Sirius were relieved when they felt his mind return to their link and they broadcast said relief over the link. Before they could begin to badger him Xander quickly explained to the duo exactly what had happened and why. The entire time the portal grew and as it did it drew more and more air into its self. Just as Xander finished the wind seemed to pick the small form of Sara up and started to carry her into the portal. Xander lunged and managed to catch Sara by one of her legs. With his other arm he held them both by grabbing onto a small hole in the floor.

'What I don't get,' Xander thought to the two of them, 'Was what Janus and Athena were thinking when they brought me to them. They said they were going to help me but I don't have anything more now then I did before.'

'Think Xander,' Sara thought, 'Gods rarely do anything just for the fun of it and most of what they tell people has hidden meaning.' Xander did as Sara said and ran over everything either god had said in his mind, desperately searching for anything that could help them out.

Outside the circle….

The Master smiled. Things were going exactly as he had planned. As it stood there should be nothing that Xander could do to save himself from a one way ticket to Ravenloft and, after a suitable amount of time, Xander would return as one of his most powerful minions. He glanced at the demon fighting his mindless undead. This, creature, may have attempted to interrupt the sending but his minions would soon have his head. The demon already sported dozens of bleeding wounds and he would soon perish but the cost was quite considerable. The demon had managed, so far, to destroy at least half of the zombies and three of the skeletons. No matter. The one thing that Sunnydale had more of then any other town was corpses and he would create more to replace those that were lost in the morning.

His inner gloating was cut short as the door shattered into a thousand pieces. In came Buffy in a blur of movement, fortunately all of it directed at the mindless undead.

The Master sighed. "Eric I can not afford to become distracted at this moment. See to the slayer. You may feed off her or even turn her if you wish. Just make her suffer." The Master said.

Eric smiled. In it spoke of the horror soon to befall the slayer. "As you wish Master. And thank you."

Eric slowly made his way toward the slayer. As he walked he observed the slayer's style of fighting. 'Not bad.' he thought to himself as Buffy's punches and kicks took out mindless skeleton after skeleton, 'But no where near my own. Her strength and speed are great but she will not be able to hold up against me for long. Two minutes and I will be able to return to the Master.'

Pulling his sword he arrived just as Buffy dispatched the last undead. "You are very good girl. Surrender and Ill turn you rather than kill you."

"I don't think so. " As Buffy spoke she felt something stir inside of her. She felt as if molten metal had been poured into her veins and been allowed to flow though her. "Do you really need the sword?"

"Need? No. I like the feel of the muscle, bone and sinew separate as my sword passes through my victim's body. Almost as much as I enjoy the look on their face as I teach them the true meaning of the word pain." Breaking the stare off Eric launched a rapid series of attacks that Buffy had a hard time following. If her body did not feel as if it was burning from the inside she was sure she could do so much better. His speed and skill were staggering and it was all Buffy could do to keep up. She felt a growing sense of fear enter her gut as she imagined what the outcome of this fight would be unless something happened soon.

Inside the barrier….

Xander watched the fight between Buffy and Eric with fear. He knew from Alexander's memories that Eric was not using anywhere near his full speed or strength against her which means that he was not trying to kill her. That could only mean…No! He would not think of that! He needed a way out. He needed to help Buffy!

"I hope you are ready, Alexander." The Master broke in. "You had better say your prayers now. Once the portal has engulfed you, you will enter a realm of unspeakable terror and horror. Good Luck!" The Master gave a harsh laugh. As it so often was the case, the villain's gloating sparked something inside Xander. Portal…Prayer? Xander's mind seemed to click and everything he had recently been told by the gods clicked into place. Pulling Sara in he tucked her inside his shirt, against her very vocal protests, and dropped to his knees.

"Father hear my plea. Take whatever you need of me to help me and my friends." he prayed.

As if he had been waiting for just this, Janus poured power into his son. In fact he took the chance to do more than grant him power and he entered his son's mind and took over. Xander's eyes shimmered and began to glow bright neon green. "Time for some fun." He said, a smile growing upon his face.

'It is strange,' Janus thought to himself. 'To only see in three dimensions. I suppose I will just have to endure for now.'

Janus turned his thoughts from his, thankfully, temporary inconveniences to the matter at hand. With a thought he turned the portal from the pitch black that indicated it as the Masters' to the bright neon green that he so loved. The Master, seeing the portal leaving his control, began pouring energy into it, hoping he could overpower Janus's control and regain the portal. Janus's answer was simple; he merely poured more power of his own into the matrix that made up the portal. The portal was simply absorbing every ounce of power the two gave it and still it absorbed more, unfortunately for the Master, Janus, as god of all portals, could retain control of the portal indefinitely. Janus soon tired of this tug of war and he reached out with his will. Altering several of the spells that made up the portal he released the portal and left it to its own devices.

Not having to worry about the portal any longer, Janus looked over to where Buffy was fighting Eric. The battle was going about as well as could be expected. Buffy had so far managed to avoid every blow that Eric sent her way and had even managed to land several glancing blows of her own. However Janus knew that Eric was almost done playing around. His blows were gaining speed and his smile was growing larger and larger.

It was at that time Eric made his move. Dropping his sword he rushed forward with a burst of speed even Buffy couldn't follow. She blinked and the next thing she saw was his eye. The deep, deep darkness of his eye with the tiny red glow lighting it up.

"You do not wish to harm me." He told her, "You wish to embrace what you will become. Now stay still."

Buffy, caught in Eric's mesmeric gaze, did exactly what he said. Inside her head she was screaming but Eric's charming gaze overrode her motor control. He swept Buffy's hair away from her neck and gently caressed her neck.

"My dear, don't worry. Soon your strength and speed will increase until nothing will be able to stand against you. Prepare to embrace your destiny." Eric lowered he teeth towards her neck.

Across the room Xander was screaming inside his own head as Janus just stood there and watched. Finally Janus snapped. 'Listen and watch, son. I swear to that no harm will come to your friend. Something that the powers that be will regret when they discover how they have been played.' He told Xander.

Xander's response was lost as Eric bit deep into Buffy's neck. When his teeth penetrated her neck Buffy felt as if lighting had struck her. The burning in her veins died away, leaving a pure sense of power. She felt the chains of Eric's magical charms fall off and a smile broke out on her face. Buffy slammed her head back into Eric's nose, rolled forward and came up facing the vampyre. Eric had fallen back in pain as the blow had really hurt. Now he looked up and recoiled slightly in fear. Buffy's eyes were completely black.

Eric could practically feel the power pouring into the slayer. Where it came from he had no clue but he did know that he had to kill her before she brought it to bear upon him. Wasting no time and no longer playing games, Eric rushed forward at his maximum speed. Eric screamed a command word and his sword leapt up into his hand and he attacked.

Buffy was a little confused. Eric was attacking her at his max speed yet to her it seemed as if he was no faster then the average vamp. It was no trouble at all for her to duck his swing, grab his wrist and snap it with a jerking motion. Shock flashed briefly over his face as this, little girl of all things, move as fast as any vampyre he had ever seen. He still believed that his victory was assured but beneath his confidence a feeling arose that Eric had not felt since he had turned: Fear. It may have only been a small fear but it was enough to enrage him. Once again he spoke the command word and the sword jumped up to his other hand.

Eric came at Buffy like a raging storm, attacking Buffy with strike after strike. It angered him even further as Buffy dodged his every blow, seemingly without effort. Sensing she had, somehow, gained the upper hand Buffy took the offered chance to strike back. Ducking the sword's blows, Buffy rained blow after blow upon the vampyre but they did not seem to have any affect. After a few seconds Buffy realized that even his right wrist was whole once more.

'Whatever kind of demon he is,' Buffy thought, 'it heals A LOT faster than any vamp I have ever fought.'

Across the room The Master was pouring every iota of energy he had into trying to recapture the portal for his own. Seeing that his energy only served to strengthen the portal, not recapture it, he ceased. Once his power stopped pouring into the portal it collapsed, along with the barriers that held Xander captive. Sara tore herself free and the Master was barely able to duck to avoid her. In avoiding Sara he yelled out in pain as Sirius managed to latch on to his ankle.

As the Master was busy with Xander's familiars, Janus took the chance to watch Buffy's fight. She was amazing, moving as fast as Eric as she dealt blow after blow to the vampire. The only problem at the moment was that her blows had done little more then rip Eric's breastplate completely free of his body. Janus smiled. It was done and it had worked! He made a sign with his hand to the demon, who was just as slack jawed as Janus as he watched the fight, and then turned back to the Master.

'Alright,' he thought to Xander, 'The rest is up to you. The rules forbid me from fighting another's champion so you're up. Good luck son!' With those words Janus departed and Xander found himself once more in control of his body.

'That was uncomfortable.' Xantos told Xander, 'His power completely suppressed me the entire time. Let's engage this undead…'

Giving a slight nod, Xander brought his staff up before yelling "Sara, Sirius, Back!"

The two of them jumped clear just as a small fireball hit the Master and ignited his robes. With a curse the Master waved his hand and, with a few muttered words, created a small wave of water to put the flames out. His red eyes seemed to glow brighter as he smiled.

"A mage's duel? You don't stand a chance." He told Xander, "I am not only stronger but I have access to spells that you can't even begin to imagine."

"Maybe not," Xander said, "But I have something you don't."

"Oh really? What is that?" The Master sneered.

"My friends." Xander answered as Buffy slammed into the Master from behind.

A few seconds earlier….

The demon acted upon the signal, unexpected as it was, and produced two slender looking daggers. The metal of the blades had a sliver glisten that told those who knew what to look for that Mithral had been used in their creation. The hilts were entirely made from wood and were extremely sharp at the end. The daggers were completely unadorned without any symbols or embellishments on either the blade or the hilt.

"Slayer, Catch!" Buffy managed to turn just in time to catch the twin blades, "A gift from the lord of Chaos. These will help."

Nodding her thanks Buffy ducked just in time to avoid another swing from Eric's sword. Eric was getting cocky as he had noticed that Buffy's attacks didn't seem to cause any lasting damage and he had been leaving himself more and more open when he attacked. This attack was no different and Buffy took full advantage of the fact. Leaping forward she drove the blade of one of her daggers deep into his shoulder. Eric hissed. The wound burned! And what was worse was the fact that the wound was not healing! Whatever these daggers were, wither they were magic or were made of some strange material, they had the power to not only overcome the natural resistance to weapons that vampyres had but also to cause such wounds to bleed as mortal wounds would.

Buffy, seeing the wound still bleeding, grinned. Eric quickly brought his defenses back up but, without his right shoulder, they were clumsy at best. Buffy was quickly able to repeat her success and inflect several more wounds upon Eric.

"Guess you're not that tough after all, are you?" Buffy quipped as she drove the wooden handle of her dagger deep into Eric's chest. Unlike vampires Eric's body did not turn to dust but he did fall prone to thee ground. Buffy moved to pull her new dagger out of his chest when the demon grabbed her by the arm, almost getting her other dagger planted in his chest until she realized who he was.

"Slayer, you must help the Chaos lord's son!" He pointed toward where Xander was facing down the Master, "He doesn't yet have the power to defeat him in combat. If you do not help him…"

Buffy wasted no time. She charged the Master from behind just as Xander finished speaking and slammed into his back. Wasting no time Xander sent a small orb of fire from his staff into the Master's back, setting him on fire. On a vampire this would kill him shortly but with vampyres all it did was burn them The Master threw Buffy off his back and across the room. Standing up he threw his robe at Xander just in time to intercept the next orb of fire. Using his staff Xander knocked it out of the way and was about to send yet another orb at him when the Master stood up.

His face was covered in red blotches that completely hid who he was, or used to be at any rate. He ducked the second fire orb Xander sent his way, pulling a long slender wand from his belt. Buffy recovered from her trip into the wall and was on her way, dagger in hand, and the Master knew it. Grinning he pointed the wand at Xander and released its power. A bolt of black, crackling energy crossed the space separating the two mages and hit Xander square in the chest. Xander fell, agony ripping through his body.

The Master was about to release yet another bolt of energy from his wand when Buffy slammed her dagger into his back. Screaming in pain the Master leapt away from Xander, taking the dagger with him. Buffy stood protectively over Xander as the Master threw the dagger to the ground. Spotting Eric's prone body laying upon the ground the Master decided to excise the better part of valor. He reached inside to the darkness and transformed himself into a green mist, leaving a trail of laughter behind him.

The darkness slowly left Buffy's eyes as she knelt down to check on Xander. He seemed completely unharmed except for the burn mark on his chest where the energy had hit him. Buffy wasn't the only one who was worried, Sirius and Sara were both crowding around Xander. Unlike before they could still feel his presence but they could tell he was badly damaged. Buffy picked up her friend and was carrying him out of the building when she remembered the strange demon.

Looking over her shoulder Buffy yelled "Hey, I need to get Xander to Giles. Would you grab those daggers and follow me?"

The demon shrugged and picked up the dagger laying on the ground. As he pulled the knife out of Eric the vampyre's eyes popped open and he too transformed into mist. Buffy growled to herself as she saw this. If staking didn't work against these things then she was sunk. Maybe Giles would have some idea on how to kill them.

Xander's mindscape…..

He sat in the chair inside his library. The library had changed in response to the damage that had been done to his body. The books, while still present, were now worn out and the bookshelves were looking as if they were hundreds of years old. In fact everything in the library looked as if it were hundreds of years old, completely different from how they normally looked. As Xander was marveling at the changed Xantos entered the library.

"You got lucky," He told Xander, "Normally a hit from a Energy drain spell at your current level of power would have resulted in your death. I was able to use my power to sustain you but it will take some time until you are back to normal."

"How long?"

"Two weeks." Seeing Xander start to protest Xantos held up his clawed hand, "That is the least amount of time required by both your body and my magic to set you straight once more. What's more is that you will not be able to wake up until it is finished."

"Um, what about food and water?"

"My magic will provide for your body until you awake. Now since you have plenty of spare time why don't we put it to good use. We will be able to do several months of training in the two weeks it will take you to awake." Xantos answered.

Xander groaned. "I thought I needed my rest."

"Nice try but your body needs the rest not your mind. I still plan on sleeping in two weeks so I will need you to work hard and, what is that?" Xantos pointed to Xander's forearm.

Xander pulled his shirt up and revealed a twisting, blue-red tattoo upon his arm. Both he and Xantos could feel the power pouring off the tattoo. "My father said that he was giving me a gift. This must be it."

"Alexander, that is a dragonmark." Xantos explained, "They have special powers that their barer can call upon to do amazing things. I will need to examine it more carefully before I can tell you which it is though."

"That's alright. We need to start anyway. Next time I meet that creature I will kick his ass all over Sunnyhell." Xander answered.

"Very well. The first thing we should do is start to create your new staff. Once I am asleep it will be too dangerous for you to use me. It might result in the same situation that occurred out in the woods."

"Damn it!" Xander smacked his forehead, "I forgot all about that damn demon. He must have gotten away when I was dealing with the necromancer."

"Don't worry. Once you wake you will deal with him. Now you had better reach out to Sara to inform her of your situation. She can inform your friends so they don't worry or do something foolish like taking you to a house of healing." Xantos told him, "And after that we will start with your new staff."

Xander nodded and reached out with his mind. It took a few seconds but he reached Sara, who proceeded to rip him a new one about forcing them to spilt up, and he was able to tell her the whole story. Opening his eyes he nodded.

"Alright Obi-Wan, lets train."

Outside Giles's house….

Willow sat on the fountain when Buffy came up behind her. "What's wrong Wills?"

"It's Xander." She began.

"Will, you heard what Sara said. Xander will be fine in two weeks. Until then Giles said he could sleep in his spare bedroom." Buffy told her.

"It's not that," Willow said hesitantly, "It's what happened in the forest. You didn't see him. He turned into…the thing he turned into on Halloween."

"Yeah but you said he only did it after he saw you injured."

"Sure but, seeing him all Grrr, really made me feel, worried. What if he can't control it? What if it turns against us?" Willow asked.

"Will this is Xander." Buffy answered, "He would never hurt us."

"He hurt you when he was possessed before."

"Yeah but that was the hyena…." Buffy trailed off.

"Exactly." Willow said.

"We will just have to trust Xander." Buffy answered, "When he wakes up we will ask him what happened. That sound good?" Willow nodded and the two of them went inside Giles's home.

Boston, January 1998.…

Faith was elated. Her watcher, Ms. Dormor, had finely relented and allowed them to patrol. Most watchers refused to allow their charges to patrol until the time came, if it ever did, that they were called. Ms. Dormor, on the other hand, not only allowed her charges to patrol but also went with them. She was following Faith closely with a crossbow in hand. They had already dusted two vamps and were currently following a third when a noise caught their attention.

Moving down the alley that it came from they saw a large neon green portal. The noise was coming from the wind that was pouring from the portal. As they watched someone fell to the ground and the portal closed.

"Ms. D," Faith said, "What's that?"

"I don't know Faith. For now stay…Faith!" As she was answering Faith had taken several steps toward the prone figure, "Be careful."

"Don't worry Ms. D." She answered.

Faith got close enough to press her wooden cross to the man's arm. When nothing happened she looked back toward her watcher. "He isn't burning Ms. D."

"Very well. That just proves that he is not a vampire. However we don't have any idea who or what else he could be."

The man suddenly sat straight up. Ms. Dormor had her crossbow up and aimed at his chest but it hardly seemed necessary. When his eyes met Faiths they both froze. They stared at each other for several minutes before Ms. Dormor interrupted.

"Faith, are you alright?"

"Five by Five." Came her answer.

"It worked." The man croaked, "The traveler spoke the truth." After that he passed out.

"Faith," Ms. D started.

"He's ok, Ms. D." Faith answered, "He's the one that I told you about. The one that's been in my dreams."

Ms. D frowned slightly. "Very well then. Help me carry him to the car and we will get some answers when he awakes." Working together they managed to get the sleeping man into the back of a car and they drove away.


	14. Doom's new home

A/N: Damn work strikes again. Double shifts all month have made typing this up very, very hard but here it is. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope you enjoy! I don't own Buffy, Dr. Doom, Stargate SG-1 or D&D. Those belong to others and this is done with only enterment in mind. Thanks!

Across the galaxy form Earth, almost at the edge of the stargate network, lay a planet named Talanor. During the height of Ra's power this planet was a favorite of the goa'uld. The people of this planet were highly desired as hosts both for their strength and beauty and also for a unique talent unknown to people outside this planet: They had a strong telepathic sense of others. While unable to use this bond to communicate with each other mind to mind nor use any type of telekinesis, they could sense the minds of others as distinct individuals. As such they were able to tell, almost instantly, if a goa'uld had taken control of someone. When they focused on the host they could even tell if the host was willingly submitting to the will of the goa'uld or if they had been taken against their own will. This was only a small inkling of what their power could be, should it ever be developed, but such a skill was invaluable in the fight against the Tok'ra and so many, if not all, of the system lords wished to have a host from Talanor that raids on the populace of Talanor were almost a daily event.

Three hundred years ago this all changed when a small, but powerful, order of warrior monks rose to power. They quickly saw through the goa'uld's charade of godhood and began to quietly teach their people the fighting forms of their order. After ten years of planning, teaching and preparation they led a revolt against their gods. The armies of Ra's Jaffa and the order of Taron's warriors faced each other in a great yet terrible battle. While the order's forces were outnumbered almost twenty to one the order's unique fighting techniques, a series of hand to hand combat enhanced by their sensing abilities, allowed the warriors to tear through the Jaffa quickly. While the Jaffa managed to kill several hundred of the order's warriors they were unable to touch the order's masters.

The masters managed to encircle Ra's forces in the fortress that contained the stargate. Ra's commander, never having seen any Jaffa lose to human forces, ordered a retreat through the stargate in order to gather reinforcements and counterattack. Upon the Jaffa's retreat the orders leaders, three old and wise masters, set several young people armed with staff weapons to guard the gate while the others set about killing the remaining Jaffa.

Due to gravimetric eddies sent out by a nearby black hole, Talanor was not able to be reached by Faster then light travel. If someone wanted to approach the planet by ship they would have to travel almost a hundred years in normal space. Due to these conditions, Ra's forces were forced to counter attack through the stargate. When the Jaffa began to leave the gate the young guards opened fire. Each warrior was placed in a different angle in order to prevent the others from killing him yet still allow them to create a very effective crossfire. Jaffa died almost as fast as they left the gate. After losing a little over fifty Jaffa, normally well more then was needed to suppress a revolt, Ra sent his second in command to the planet. Needless to say he suffered several blasts and died very quickly. After Ra was unable to reach his commander, and liking the fact that he alone of the goa'uld had a host from Talanor, Ra declared this planet forbidden and turned his attention elsewhere.

The next hundred and fifty years became known as the golden age for the Talanorians. Having seen what great evil technology could bring, yet knowing that they had great need of such technology should the false god return, they created a branch of their government to oversee the development and the proper use of their technology. Guidelines were created and enforced with the highest possible authority of the people. Under the technology branch's firm guiding hand they advanced quickly and soon had weapons and technology Earth wouldn't have access to for years yet they managed to maintain their beliefs. Most of their population used a minimal amount of the technology available to them and, in fact, they lived much primarily as their ancestors had. Unlike other cultures the individual was what mattered to the Talanorians. All people, no matter what your profession was, were given an equal amount of rights and respect.

All good things must come to an end and Talanor's golden age was no exception. An event occurred on Talanor that has only occurred three times before in the entire galaxy: A Hellmouth formed. The conditions for a Hellmouth forming are, surprisingly, simple. All a Hellmouth requires to form is a planet, native life forms and the First's approval. Talanor drew the First's when they forced the goa'uld from their planet and he maintained a watch over it during its entire golden age. When he was convinced that the people would make him excellent servants he used the agreements forged between him and the Powers to create a Hellmouth. He did have to inform the Powers, of course, and they set about trying to create a champion to stop him.

Not only did the Talanorian representatives refuse the Powers offer but they also demanded that the Powers leave and never return to Talanor. As you can imagine this did not go over very well with the Powers. The demands angered the Powers but, being bound by agreements of old, they had to agree. They believed it to be a fitting punishment for a people who refused to preserve the balance of good and evil. The First was all too happy to hear of this outcome for now he had full reign on Talanor with no other divine interference.

Vampires were the first demons to appear. These vampires were Turok-Han and were incredibly strong. The First allowed the Turok-Han several years to soften up and turn the Talanorians before allowing more deadly demons to enter their world. At first the Talanorians did surprisingly well against the demons but, as more and more of their people were turned, the tide began to turn against them. They were slowly pushed back until they had to surrender the western continent to the demons in order to survive. Fifty years had passed since the opening of the Hellmouth and, in desperation, the Talanorian people turned to their top scientific minds for an answer. Luckily they had been studying this exact problem for the last fifty years and they quickly used several prototype devices to hold back the demonic forces.

Even this came to an end but this end came because of human folly. Believing that they could harness the demonic threat in order to take back their planet, the scientists began to capture demons for experiments. The first demon capture resulted in the capture of a corrupter demon. Over the course of the next several months, the demon managed to infect the scientists with a love of power. The longer they spent around the demon the stronger the desire grew until they were consumed by their desire.

At this point they were completely open to any suggestions the corrupter made. At his request they shut down the defensive shields that were protecting the Talanorian settlements. After this he used the genius of the researchers to develop devices that offered protection form the hand held weapons that they had created for their people.

The demonic horde swarmed over the newly undefended lands. For the next one hundred years the Talanorians fought back with everything they had which, without their weapons, turned out to be merely their hand to hand tactics and the little technology that still worked. Still they were slowly pushed back until they now only inhabited a few hundred square miles of land. They had managed to retain control over the Stargate but had lost the DHD to the demons.

Twenty young men and women still kept guard over the gate using staff weapons, the one weapon the demons had failed to neutralize, when the gate activated. They brought their weapons to bear as Dr. Doom stepped out. He was wearing his newest armor, a gun metal steel color with a faint golden tint with black runes etched on the surface and, as proven when the young ones opened fire, almost completely unaffected by staff weapon fire. Each time one of the blasts hit his armor the runes glowed and redirected the energy toward powering the wards that protected him.

'Well, at least we know the wards work correctly.' Warren told Doom.

Ignoring Warren Doom turned his thoughts toward his attackers. Raising his hand, Doom gave his armor the mental command and the staff weapons of the young warriors flew up to the roof.

'Listen to me," Doom commanded. "Bring your commander to me."

Unwisely two of the young warriors attacked. The warriors were completely confused. They could only sense Warren's mind and his only intentions were leaning more in the direction of run and hide rather then fighting them. As they were struggling to overcome the loss of their advantage Doom launched several punches and kicks that sent them flying across the room. They slowly got back up and launched themselves at Doom. This time he merely smiled and crossed his arms. When they grabbed them a large electric shock sent them to the ground, unconscious.

"I have spared the young ones lives." He told the remaining warriors. "The next to attack me not be so lucky."

Even after seeing Doom in action the other warriors would have still attacked had three elders, a man and two women, not entered at that exact moment.

"Enough!" The man ordered. "We are the Elders of the order. If you wish to speak with us do so."

"But know this." The woman on his right told Doom. "If you are one of the gods returning to claim this world begone now! Trouble may have fallen upon us but we will still fight."

"Otherwise," The last elder spoke up. "Tell us why you have attacked our students."

"First, I am not a goa'uld! I am Doom!" Doom's rage was visible to everyone in the room." I came to offer certain, technologies, that may help your people." "Very well, we accept that you are not one of the false gods." The male elder said after a moment. "But what good would your technology do us right now? Our planet is under attack by the dark ones and they are using defenses that make them immune to our weapons."

"Dark ones? What are they? Goa'uld or another race?" Doom asked.

"The dark ones come from the portal." he answered. "There are many different kinds of dark ones but they all wish to destroy us."

"These beings," Doom asked. "Do they feed upon your blood?"

"The ones who take our fallen friends forms do. Others don't seem to require this." He answered.

'How can demons be here?' Warren asked. 'I thought the Hellmouth was on Earth?'

'You prove yourself to be even more stupid then I first thought.' Doom responded. 'What is their to prevent a Hellmouth from forming on another world? Furthermore, we know Ra took humans from Earth to use as slaves. What makes you think that he didn't take demons as well?'

Satisfied that he had, for the moment at least, silenced the annoying child up Doom continued to address the elders. "I can help you to fight these 'dark ones', for a price."

"And what may that price be?" The elder women asked together.

"There is a ruin upon your planet. I will require it and several small samples of your blood. That is all." Doom responded.

"So little?" The elders all looked at each other for a moment. "What will we gain in exchange for this?"

"I will give you the means to fight these creatures. Weapons they have no way to resist or defend against. After you have regained your land, in exchange for your continued support, I will continue to defend you until my research is done. After that you may keep any gifts I have given you and we will part ways, agreed?"

"We will need to discuss this. Will you give us a moment?"

"Of course. I will wait." Doom answered.

The three elders left the room. 'So why is it so important that we gain this ruin and their blood?' Warren asked.

Doom sighed to himself. Someone up there must really hate his to force this, twit, upon him like this. 'The ruin is of ancient design and, if my memories are correct, there is a device inside that will allow me to change DNA. The system lord Nirrti has discovered several such devices after Ra informed her of this one. Hopefully it is still operational.'

Before Warren could respond the elders reentered the room. "We have decided to aid you. However you will have to earn your prize before we can give it to you. The ruins you require fell to the horde several years ago along with the device needed to run the doorway." The elder male told him.

"Very well. Will you take me to your defenses so I can see what we have to work with?" Doom continued to discuss the matter of defenses with two of the three elder while the last woman stayed behind.

"Halt." She told two of the guards. "We may be forced to deal with this, creature, but I don't trust him for one moment. I want the shadow guard to follow him and should he make a single move not related to the goals he has laid out, they are to kill him. Understood?" The two young ones nodded and ran off to tend to their errand while the elder sped off to catch up with the others.

Earth…

Buffy walked into the library to find, to no ones surprise, Giles bent over a pile of books with her new toys laying beside them. From the looks of the library it seemed he had not moved since they had dropped Xander off except the sleeping teenager was nowhere in sight. Crossing the library Buffy sat down on the table and Giles gave a slight jump.

"So, what's up Giles?" She asked with a innocent smile on her face.

"Buffy? What are you doing here? School doesn't start for another…" Giles trailed off as he spotted the clock. "Dear lord. Is it really that time already?"

"Jeez Giles, don't tell me you have been here all weekend?" At the silence that greeted her comment Buffy turned toward the librarian with disbelief on her face. "What could have been so important that you needed to spend the entire weekend here?"

"Buffy, if I am correct, and I do hope I am, what that demon gave you was the Daggers of Helicon."

"And dose that mean they weren't made in Seattle?" Buffy asked.

"No, the daggers of Helicon were weapons forged for the slayer ages ago." Picking up the book he was reading Giles explained to his young slayer exactly what it was she had received. "The daggers of Helicon were forged in Greece solely for use by the slayer. The wood for the handles was harvested, blessed and prepared by the high priest of Pan, transported to the forges of Hephaestus where the blades were forged, blessed and attached and, finally, transported to the priests of Apollo where the sun god himself was said to have blessed the blades with the flames of the sun itself. The blades where the priest's way of saying thanks to the council for saving them form a rather unpleasant demon."

"So, " Buffy interrupted. "If these dagger thingies belong to the slayer way didn't I have them?" "To make a rather long story short, they were lost." Seeing from Buffy's look that wouldn't satisfy her Giles sighed and continued. "It was during a battle in Egypt hundreds of years ago. The slayer at the time, a young woman by the name of Tiana, was trying to kill a demon lord who had managed to convince most of the people of Egypt that he was Ra. When she attacked the people, seeing their 'god' having trouble with a single, mortal girl, rose up against him and revolted."

"Always thought those animal guys were weird. Now I know why, they were demons." Buffy broke in.

"In truth that was the council's fault. They believed that the images of the gods as animals, and therefore making them lower than humans, would lead the people to overthrow the demons themselves. It didn't work because the demons took to the idea with gusto and even began outfitting their elite warriors with the heads of the animals they were identified with."

"During the battle," Giles continued. "Tiana engaged the 'Jaffa', as his elite warriors were called, in front of the dimensional gateway that was responsible for allowing Ra and the others of his kind into our world. After she had killed most of his guard and engaged Ra himself, he realized that he had very little chance of winning the day. He activated the portal and fled but not before Tiana had followed him. Nothing else is known about what happened to her except that the next slayer was called shortly thereafter. Tiana and the daggers were both lost to the portal." Giles experienced a burst of sadness when he realized which of the two the council had mourned the loss of.

"So how did this demon get them?"

Giles snapped back to the library and, with a slight shake of his head, answered. "From what I can find of this, friend, of Xander's he is a Mok'tagar demon. The Mok'tagar are a race of transdimensional demons who have the ability to transport themselves, and others if they wish, to any number of dimensions. It is entirely conceivable that they discovered the daggers and kept them safe. What I don't understand is why he gave them to you when he did."

"Not to mention that he gave them to me just in time to kill the strongest vamp I have ever faced? That vamp was wicked strong and very fast. Seriously I could only see a blur when he moved. At least at first. After he had bitten me he got slower. I don't know Giles. Maybe he wasn't a vamp after all. He did get back up after the dagger was pulled out." Buffy said.

"Well, we will just have to wait until Xander wakes. Perhaps he has some answers to these questions." Giles wiped his glasses almost absent mindedly.

"Yeah," Buffy said very quietly, thinking about what Willow had told "He has some questions to answer all right."


	15. Awaken

Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy, D&D, Stargate, nor any of the other recognizable characters or locations. I am merely borrowing them to take them for a very weird ride.

A/N: I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! Thanks! Remodel at work has taken all the time I have had over the last few months but it is finished and hopefully I will have more time to write now. Please review as most reviews give me good ideas I often use. Thank you!

One week later…

It was a Saturday night and Buffy was, once again, fighting vampires. She had been patrolling the alleys near the Bronze when she was jumped by a vamp. After a brief struggle she dusted him but missed the two that creeped up from behind her. They each grabbed a arm and held tight, despite her efforts, while another vamp slowly waked out of the alley.

"Well, well, well," he said. "Looks like we got ourselves a slayer. Too bad Spike's no longer around. We might have been rich. As it is, well, I think that there is enough of you to go around, before dinner anyway."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You were a comic book geek before you turned?"

"She got you good, Rodney!" Chuckled one of the two holding her.

"Shut up!" The leader, Rodney, yelled. "It doesn't matter what I was before. When word gets out that I was the one who killed you then I will take Spike's place as the Big Bad."

With a exaggerated slowness Rodney slowly moved forward and bent to bite Buffy. She was about to spring into action when several loud pops filled the alley. Something hit the vampires and almost instantly they released Buffy. The effect of, whatever it was that hit the vampires, was apparent. Whatever it was burned them, as if it was acid. In a few seconds Buffy realized that what had hit the vamps must have been holy water, seeing as how it hurt them but the small drops had no effect on her.

"Buffy, Catch!" Buffy turned her head just in time to see Willow toss her a stake and to catch it without a second thought. Just in time, Rodney was the first to shake off the pain and charged. Stepping to the side Buffy caught Rodney across the chin with a hard right and followed up with a knee shot to his chest. Rodney felt both his chin and ribs shatter as he hit the wall behind him, hard. Buffy was moving in for the kill when she was distracted by four more of the loud pops followed by more screaming. It was only a moments distraction but it was enough for Rodney to launch himself from the wall at the slayer.

Rodney lashed out at Buffy with a barrage of punches and kicks. She managed to duck the punches and all but one of the kicks. The kick doubled her over but Buffy used the momentum and rolled. Coming up behind Rodney, Buffy decided to end this. Rushing him from behind she plunged her stake deep into his back. Rodney froze for a moment before his dust drifted to the ground.

She took a deep breath and looked up just in time to see two of the three remaining vamps fall to dust. That still left one vamp and it looked as though Willow was having some trouble with her weapon. The last vamp, ugly red welts surrounding his eyes, was stumbling closer and closer to Willow, his claws taking blind swipes every few feet. Buffy rushed to Willow's aid, dispatching the lone blind vampire without any trouble at all.

"Thanks Buff," Willow said. "I had to reload."

"No problem Wills," Buffy answered. "What is that anyway?"

Willow handed the gun over to her friend and began to explain. "Its just a paintball gun. I used a few of Major Carter's memories to get some water based paintballs for it and had the priest bless them. Instant holy water."  
"Very clever, Wills." Buffy handed it back to her. "But what happens when the Major finds out you used her codes? Wont she be angry?"

"Don't worry Buff. I only used common command codes and I covered my tracks pretty thoroughly. Even so, the paintballs are a low level, almost non-military, hardware. They even sell them to police and SWAT teams for training purposes. No big." Willow answered.

"Ok, if you say so. How about we chill at the Bronze for a while?"

"Sounds good, Buff." Willow answered.

The two of them left the ally, leaving behind piles of vampire ash. Unnoticed by either of them a small, petite red haired boy darted out of the shadows of the ally and gathered up the piles. As he did so, the young boy muttered to himself. "Master wants ashes, ashes Master gets." Once all the ashes were gathered the boy's eyes glowed bright red and he vanished into the darkness.

Later….

At the Bronze Buff and Willow had met up with, to their great surprise, Jonathan. After hanging out and dancing for a few hours, Buffy was surprised to find herself liking Jonathan. While he was not as loud as Xander nor as smart as Willow, he had his own charms. The spent the entire night hanging out and were now on their way to Buffy's for a little while before they each headed home.  
"….And when I tried the spell for the first time, I lit the entire tabletop on fire!" Jonathan told the two laughing girls.

"You didn't?" Buffy asked through her laughing.

"I did. Luckily Ms. Calendar was there. She quickly cast a spell and doused the table with water." Jonathan told her.

"Can you show me that spell sometime?" Willow asked.

"Nope." Seeing Willow's face fall he continued. "Ms. Calendar told me not to teach anyone anything. If you want to learn you are going to have to start at the very beginning. I had to learn both how to channel the power into the spell and the philosophy behind the spell before she even let me try it. If you want to learn it, well, you'll have to ask her."

They had just reached the front door and Buffy reached out with her key to unlock it when it fell open with just a touch.

"Hey guys, wait here a sec." Buffy told them.

Before either of her friends could answer her a glass shattered inside the house followed by someone saying "No, don't…"

Buffy, Willow and Jonathan rushed into the kitchen to find Joyce kissing a strange man. When they noticed the teenagers, the two adults quickly broke apart.

"Hi, Buffy." Joyce wiped her mouth. "This is Ted.."

Same time, Giles's home….

Seated at his desk Giles was reading through a large stack of papers. This stack represented everything the council had on the relics that were known, in this world anyway, as the staffs of draconic fury. It wasn't as much as Giles had come to expect from the council's records. When Buffy had confided her fear that the staff might have been somehow controlling or influencing Xander's behavior, or at least that's what he translated 'he's acting wonky' to mean, he had called the council and requested any information they had on the staffs.

Discounting Xander's staff, there were exactly three staffs, and their hosts, known to exist to the council. One was in the council's vault, one was in the possession of a elderly man named Jason Scott in Japan and the current whereabouts of the last staff was unknown although the bearer, a woman named Abbey Lee, was well documented. Very little was known about the powers of the staffs other then they seemed to extend their wielder's lifespan and that the influence the staff imposed upon it's host, while of a unknown type, was considerable.

The only common thread among the hosts, after being bonded to the staff anyhow, was the fact that they developed some form of magical talent, even if it was merely the ability to channel power through the staff itself. The strongest, and most powerful, of the recorded hosts were among the strongest known spell casters in history. In one account of the history of Merlin he used the staff to enhance his magic and increase its power to heights that were unheard of at that point in time.

While there were several instances documented about the physical and magical influence on the host there was next to no information about the mental influence. No host, other than the one who left the staff in the council's care, had ever joined the council. Even he didn't leave many notes concerning the staff's powers, only that they must not try to control either the staff or the host it chooses. Nor had the staff in the vault ever chosen a host since. It seemed that whatever it was that the staff looked for in a host hadn't yet shown up in any member of the council.

Other than some stories about the deeds the various hosts had performed over the years, there was no other information regarding the staff or its powers. The papers did contain the contact number, and the address, of one Jason Scott, the only known living host to one of the staffs. Sighing Giles did a few calculations to make sure he wouldn't be waking anyone up, picked up his phone and dialed.

"Hello? Scott residence." A woman answered. It was shortly followed by the same introduction repeated in Japanese.

Relieved, Giles relayed his questions. "Yes, I need to speak with Mr. Scott regarding a, artifact, in his possession."

"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Scott is not at home right now. I can relay your request to him once he gets home if you would like?" She asked.

"Yes, please. That would be very kind of you." Giles relayed his contact information and hung up, hoping that Mr. Scott did get back to him soon. Otherwise he would have a angry slayer on his hands.

Three days later…

"Rupert Giles speaking, there had better be a bloody good reason your calling in the middle of the night." Giles answered his phone.

"My apologies, Mr. Giles." A deep voice came over the handset. "I was merely returning your phone call. I am Jason Scott."  
"Mr. Scott, I'm sorry." Giles started.

"No, no, Mr. Giles. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I returned your phone call at the same time you called me. Had I known it was the middle of the night, well, I would have waited a few more hours before placing my call." Jason interrupted. "If that is out of the way now, which artifact were you interested in? I have many ranging from the first age of Egypt to the last days of Greece."  
"Actually it was your staff I was interested in." Giles answered.

"My staff? Are you a shield against darkness?" Jason asked.

"I would like to believe so."

"You're a watcher, aren't you?" Giles gave conformation and Jason continued. "I thought so. I have told many watchers the exact same as I am now telling you: I will not diverge any information regarding my staff to a watcher. Your council will just have to continue to wonder what exactly it is capable of. Now if that is all…"

"Please, wait! I need the information to aid a young friend of mine. He has, bonded, with a staff such as yours and I need to know exactly how much it is influencing him." Giles interrupted.

Jason was silent for a few minutes. "In such a case," He finally spoke. "I would be willing to help. I will need to know the name of the staff to verify your story before I give you any information and none of what I give you will be given to the council, understood?"

"Very well." Giles could be heard over the phone shuffling papers. "The staff's name is Xantos. He came into this world in a rather unusual way…" Giles quickly explained to Jason the events that occurred on Halloween as well as what happened to Xander the night he faced the Master that had worried Buffy. "My slayer is very concerned about this situation and I was trying to find out if what had happened was due to some influence that his staff had on his mind."

"I have an idea what happened but I shall have to confirm it, and that this Xantos is real, before I can explain it to you. I shall call you again tomorrow, at a more reasonable hour. Good day, Mr. Giles." With that the phone clicked and Giles hung up his phone with a sigh.

Japan, shortly afterward….

Mr. Lee hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. He stayed this way almost for an hour before he got up and crossed over to a solid steel wardrobe and punched in a combination into a keypad. With a click it opened and revealed a staff. Much like Xantos it was shaped like a dragon but it was smaller, more like a cane then a full staff. The staff was made out of a type of wood that seemed to glimmer with gold, although most people merely thought it to be a finish rather than the wood. It truth it was not wood at all but was made out of the bone and scales of the dragon that was now contained within.

Other then the golden shine the staff had no other decorations, no gem or jewels at all. Jason reached in and removed it from its stand and smiled as the mind of the dragon reached out to him.

'Jason, it is good to speak with you again.' The dragon's 'voice' said. 'How have you been?'

'I have been well, Tekumu. Your period of meditation may be over.' Jason responded.

'Has the dragon made itself known? I have been unable to locate him.' Tekumu asked.

'I have been contacted by a member of the watcher's and, according to him, a young friend of his currently become bonded with a staff and he contacted me for some information.' Jason answered. Jason quickly explained everything to Tekumu. 'Now his slayer is worried that the dragon entombed in the staff is influencing its host in a negative way.'

'That is very possible but I do not think that it is what is happening here.' Tekumu answered. 'Xantos was his name? I knew a Xantos back during the war. He was one of the generals under Tiamat and Bahamut during the war against the demon lords. Their lord, Lord Io, was a first circle demon lord himself but grew tired of the constant war between the lords and wanted it all to end, permanently.'

'We discovered later,' he continued ' that Io was merely using this war to kill off his counter-parts and that he planned on enslaving Earth once it was ended. Luckily we learned of this before the final battle and we left him to combat the last lord on his own. No, that's not completely true. Everyone other than Tiamat and Bahamut allowed them to fight. They insisted on defeating Lord Io while he was weak to avenge his betrayal. We never learned what happened during that fight but afterward both Tiamat and Bahamut reemerged as gods. The dragons had a council and decided to split up the human population and go their separate ways. The siblings Xantos, Khyber, Siberys and Eberron decided they would travel to a separate reality to discover what the true powers of a dragon are.'

'Meanwhile I was chosen as one of the three dragons to keep an eye on the Earth and the Hellmouth. I instructed the humans I choose as my companions in the ways of honor and respect. This led, in time, to the devolvement of the Japanese culture. Meanwhile…' Tekumu was interrupted by Jason at this point.

'Tekumu,' he said, knowing that Tekumu would continue in this fashion until he caught up with the current point in history. 'As much as I would enjoy hearing all the wonderful things dragons have done for humanity over the, eons, we really need to get back to the problem at hand. This Xantos, could he be the same one you knew back then?'

Tekumu was silent for a few minutes. 'It is possible.' he conceded. 'Xantos was the dragon who developed the theory behind the magical formulas required to bind us in our form. He may or may not have had the time I have to perfect them so he may use a focusing crystal to trap his essence but, yes, it may just be him.'

'How can we tell for sure? I will not allow any information fall into the hands of the watchers that would allow them to harm you.'

'We would have to meet, that is the only way to be sure. I would enjoy meeting Xantos once more and to discover what happened to his brothers. Khyber was the most difficult debate partner I ever had, while Siberys had the most interesting mind, Xantos was a genius when it came to magical theory and Eberron had the cutest little….' Once more Jason interrupted.

'Enough! I don't need to know about flings you had centuries ago! We need to go to California? That is what you are telling me, correct?'

'Yes,' confirmed Tekumu. 'Any other method might be fooled by magic. Also, I can learn what Xantos, if it is indeed him, can do while in staff form. I can change my form, Agrelia can read the minds of those around her and Amnemis can create illusions. Xantos must have an ability that can affect the outside would as well and I am curious to discover what it could be.'

'That is settled then.' Jason said. 'Now there is only one more question I need you to answer. Do I get my cane back now?'

'Yes, dear friend.' Tekumu laughed. 'I no longer need to focus so I can leave this closet. Come my friend, lets go see an very old friend of mine.'

'I will call Mr. Giles now and inform him. Hopefully he didn't go back to sleep, otherwise I might just get yelled at once more.' Jason turned, Tekumu in hand, to put action to his words.

A few days before Buffy's 16th birthday….

Xantos stood calmly in complete darkness. He knew that the mental plane of Xander's mind would allow him to create anything he wished but there was something, soothing, about the darkness that he found comforting. The only light that he couldn't prevent from shining was the red nimbus that seemed to surround his body. That was a side effect of the magical spell that was allowing Xander to learn about and experience Eberron.

The Nimbus pulsed brightly as the spell pulled more energy from the dragon's body. It was a good thing that he was sleeping after this, this spell was draining a lot of his inner energy. In fact it was about time to end it. Raising his clawed hand, Xantos quickly drew symbols in the air until there was five interconnected circles in the air. Each of the outer four circles had a different rune inside of them with a smaller circle in the center connecting the four together with its own center rune.

Looking over the strange conjunction of symbols, Xantos nodded in satisfaction. Placing his hand onto the center circle Xantos began to chant. As his voice grew louder, each circle began to turn from red to a different color. Underneath his hand the center rune turned wispy, almost transparent, while the upper right stayed bright red, the upper left turned blue, the lower left turned brown and the lower right white.

"Return to your vessel, Alexander!" Xantos commanded. As he did wind seemed to whip up out of nowhere and slammed into the dragon. "Return, I command it!"

Lighting flashed overhead and the Earth beneath him seemed to shake. Knowing in his mind that these effects were merely the side effects of forcing the spell to its end did not change their appearance. The longer Xantos chanted the brighter they got until several bolts of lighting hit the array and a large bolt of pure energy lanced out from the center rune.

As the energy hit the ground several bolts of lighting hit the exact same spot. A large explosion of light flashed outward from the ground where they met. When the light and heat had cleared Xander was standing in the middle of a large scorched patch of ground. Almost instantly the library blinked into existence from the darkness around both Xander and Xantos. The library had changed from its previous appearance. In every spot that had wood, the banisters, the stairs, the tables, the chairs and the counters, had transformed into the same dark wood that was used inside Xander's vault.

"Did you enjoy your studies, young one?" Xantos asked.

"Enjoy? Sometimes." Xander responded. "Did you purposely choose the hardest master you could for me? Old Ash nearly ran me ragged."

"Ash?" Xantos frowned. " You mean Ashrem d'Cannith? The pacifist?"

"Yes, he was my master's master. I studied under his student and lover Krisis Overwood. She insisted that I take lessons from him as well." Xander answered.

"Well, as long as you didn't pick up on any of his non-violent, pacifist ways." Xantos said. "There is very little chance that you will survive on the Hellmouth without fighting."

"What do you seem to have against pacifists?" Xander asked.

"They are a bunch of lily livered do nothings." he answered. "They complain about the way things are but refuse to fight to change things. They are the worst of the worst."

"Wait," Xander protested. "Ash wasn't a do nothing! He just refused to use violence to meet his ends or to further the war in any way, shape or form. He even taught me several rather effective spells to destroy several different forms of demons and undead. Old Ash believed that undead and demons needed to be destroyed utterly and totally, without mercy."

"Then he wasn't completely useless." muttered Xantos. "Did Krisis at least train you well?"

"I am now a full fledged journeyman mage." Xander told him with pride. "I haven't mastered the second tier spells but I am close."

"Hmm, very well." he answered. "It seems I have underestimated Ash and his students. Back to other matters. You may notice I have awoke you a little early. I thought this would give us a chance to say good night before I go to sleep."

"Wait a second. How early did you wake me up?" Xander asked.

"Only a few days. Your friend Buffy has her birthing day celebration in three days time." Xantos answered. "Which reminds me. Besides your friends and your familiars, you have a regular visitor. Ms. Chase has visited you several times."

Xander was flabbergasted for a moment. "Cordy? Cordy visited me? Are you sure?"

"Sara has kept me advised of your visitors, quite advised." Xantos said in disgust. "If there was any chance I would classify a pseudodragon as a true dragon it would have been lost in last week and a half. I haven't heard such a gossip since I was joined with Christina. She couldn't go for more than two minutes without telling me what such and such was doing. I was actually wishing I was joined with her again after a full day of hearing Mr. Giles's habits."

"Ok, then. I guess I should wake up now?" Xander asked.

Xantos nodded. "Yes. I shall be here until after the celebration. Then I shall go to bed. Before you wake, I want to tell you something. A relic such as me holds many powers."

"Yes I know. Both Ash and Krisis taught me that." Xander told him.

"I doubt they could have taught you about me." Xantos smiled. "My power is different then most relics. Contained inside the wood that makes up my physical form is the knowledge to create magical items. You must still provide the power and spells to craft them but using me you will be able to create the magical matrixes to give the power to the items."

"Really? I don't have to learn how to create them myself?" Xander asked.

"You really should learn to craft them yourself but you don't have to. BUT!" Xantos had to yell to be heard over Xander's celebratory 'Whoop!' "I want you to use the time to study. If you don't wish to learn to craft magic items on your own then learn to craft their bodies on your own, understood?"

"Yes Master." Xander replied. "Now if you don't mind I am going to wake up, ok?"

Xantos nodded. Xander concentrated for a moment. The world began to darken more and more until Xander opened his eyes and woke up.


End file.
